Cognitive and Motor Neurobehavioral Relationships in People with Multiple Sclerosis and Healthy Individuals

Abstract

Even though cognition and motor behavior have been traditionally conceived as independent processes, a growing body of literature supports that motor and cognitive processes are highly interrelated (Hommel et al., 2016; Mirelman et al., 2018). The relative contribution of cognition -or executive control- to motor behavior has been evidenced by means of a behavioral approach (e.g. dual task) and/or a neurophysiological approach (Clark, 2015). In this context, a deeper understanding of the cognitive-motor interference that arises from the dual task performance of a motor and cognitive task is needed, as well as the characterization of cognitive demand in neural oscillatory activity in motor-related cortical regions of the brain. The general aim of this thesis is to examine the interplay between cognitive and motor processes by means of its effect on behavior and neural correlates in people with Multiple Sclerosis and healthy individuals. It will be achieved through the study of the cognitive-motor interference during dual-task performance in people with Multiple Sclerosis and healthy individuals, as well as through the study of oscillatory brain activity potentially associated with the cognitive demand during motor control in a healthy sample. The focus is not only theoretical but also applied since the cognitivemotor interference is evaluated for its applicability to the cognitive functional assessment of people with Multiple Sclerosis.