Allocation of cognitive resources in cognitive processing of rhythmic visual stimuli before gait-related motor initiation

Rhythmic visual cues can affect the allocation of cognitive resources during gait initiation (GI) and motor preparation. However, it is unclear how the input of rhythmic visual information modulates the allocation of cognitive resources and affects GI. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of rhythmic visual cues on the dynamic allocation of cognitive resources by recording electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during exposure to visual stimuli. This study assessed event-related potentials (ERPs), event-related synchronization/desynchronization (ERS/ERD), and EEG microstates at 32 electrodes during presentation of non-rhythmic and rhythmic visual stimuli in 20 healthy participants. The ERP results showed that the amplitude of the C1 component was positive under exposure to rhythmic visual stimuli, while the amplitude of the N1 component was higher under exposure to rhythmic visual stimuli compared to their non-rhythmic counterparts. Within the first 200 ms of the onset of rhythmic visual stimuli, ERS in the theta band was highly pronounced in all brain regions analyzed. The results of microstate analysis showed that rhythmic visual stimuli were associated with an increase in cognitive processing over time, while non-rhythmic visual stimuli were associated with a decrease. Overall, these findings indicated that, under exposure to rhythmic visual stimuli, consumption of cognitive resources is lower during the first 200 ms of visual cognitive processing, but the consumption of cognitive resources gradually increases over time. After approximately 300 ms, cognitive processing of rhythmic visual stimuli consumes more cognitive resources than processing of stimuli in the non-rhythmic condition. This indicates that the former is more conducive to the completion of gait-related motor preparation activities, based on processing of rhythmic visual information during the later stages. This finding indicates that the dynamic allocation of cognitive resources is the key to improving gait-related movement based on rhythmic visual cues.