Visual reaction time (RT) was measured in 10 older men (mean age, 71.1 years)
and gender-matched controls (mean age, 26.3 years) when standing (single task)
and when walking on a motor-driven treadmill (dual task). There were 90 quasirandomly
presented trials over 15 min in each condition. Longer mean and median
RTs were observed in the dual task compared to the single task. Older males had
significantly slower mean and median RTs (315 and 304 ms, respectively) than
the younger group (273 and 266 ms, respectively) in both task conditions. There
were no age or condition effects on with in-subject variability. Both groups showed
a trend of increasing RT over the 90 single task trials but when walking only the
younger group slowed. These novel findings demonstrate high but sustained attention
by older adults when walking. It is proposed that the motor task's attentional
demands might contribute to their slower preferred walking speed.