Abstract
Walking and wayfinding rely on multiple cognitive processes, including spatial orientation and path planning. Humans must therefore attend to their environment and their position and movement in space. How attention is allocated varies between individuals and will differentially affect walking and wayfinding behavior. We examined the link between spatial orientation abilities and executive function and gait-specific attention by administering the Perspective taking Spatial Orientation (PSOT) and Trail Making (TMT) Tasks and the Gait-Specific Attentional Profile (G-SAP) to 30 adults (16F, 41±20 y.o.). Interestingly, among the G-SAP subscales (anxiety, conscious movement processing, fall-related ruminations, and processing inefficiency), we found significant correlations for both the PSOT and TMT (part B) tasks with the ruminations subscale (PSOT: ⍴=0.51, p=0.0056; TMT: ⍴=0.41, p=0.035). Ruminations about falling are known to affect path planning and movement coordination. These findings suggest that fall-related ruminations may alter basic abilities of spatial cognition.