Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42760483›Full record

ArticleGeroScience2026

The choice stepping reaction task: how prefrontal network topology reconfigures in aging and dementia.

Jae Q J Liu, Michael K Yeung, Ming Chen, Jasmine C Menant, Stephen R Lord, Daina L Sturnieks, Yee Kiu Tam, Pui Man Tang, Ka Chun Wong, Ka Long Wong and 2 more

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In one paragraph

Article in GeroScience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Jae Q J LiuDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Michael K YeungDepartment of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Ming ChenDepartment of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Jasmine C MenantNeuroscience Research Australia, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Stephen R LordNeuroscience Research Australia, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Daina L SturnieksSchool of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Yee Kiu TamDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Pui Man TangDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Ka Chun WongDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Ka Long WongDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Yiu Lok WongDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Wayne L S ChanDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. wayne.ls.chan@polyu.edu.hk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6689-3970

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The ability to initiate stepping promptly and accurately is critical for safe mobility in later life. Choice stepping reaction time (CSRT) is an independent predictor of recurrent falls in older adults and is often prolonged in dementia. Although the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is crucial for rapid response execution, existing studies primarily focus on regional activation, leaving the topological reorganization of prefrontal functional networks poorly understood. In this study, twenty-six healthy older adults (HOAs) and 25 older adults with mild-to-moderate dementia (MMD) completed four blocks each of a simple stepping task and a choice stepping task in randomized order. Prefrontal hemodynamic responses were recorded using a 48-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system. We quantified task-evoked regional activation and derived graph-theoretic network metrics within the PFC. Finally, we investigated their associations with CSRT. Compared with HOAs, the MMD group showed higher right DLPFC activation during simple stepping (p = 0.005), yet the activation decreased from simple to choice stepping (p = 0.032) in MMD. Graph analysis revealed a significantly greater prefrontal clustering coefficient (C

Indexed as

Choice steppingCognitive agingDementiaNetwork topologyPrefrontal cortex

Identifiers

PMID42760483

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.