Talking on a mobile phone or texting while walking could result in walking errors and interfere with memory recall, according to a study appearing in the online edition of the journal Gait & Posture.
Researchers at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University recruited 33 men and women in their 20s, all of whom reported owning and using a mobile phone and being familiar with texting, for the study. To assess walking abilities, participants completed a baseline test. Each participant was shown a target on the floor. Researchers then obstructed the participants' vision of the target and floor, instrucing them to walk at a comfortable pace to the target and stop. Participants repeated the same walk three times. After each walk, the amount of time it took and the position where each participant stopped was measured.
Participants returned one week later. With vision occluded except for the ability to see a mobile phone, one-third completed the exact same task; one-third completed the task while talking on the phone; and one-third completed the task while texting.
Results indicated participants who were texting or talking while walking were significantly slower, with 33% and 16% reductions in speed, respectively. Moreover, participants who were texting while walking veered off course, demonstrating a 61% increase in lateral deviation and 13% increase in distance traveled.
Although walking seems automatic, areas in the brain controlling executive function and attention are necessary for walking.
(Source: todayinot.com)
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