IF YOU need to get somewhere fast, don’t talk or think too hard. Mental arithmetic or verbal tasks, it seems, slow you down.
Véronique Dubost from Saint-Etienne University Hospital in France and her colleagues asked people to perform tasks involving thinking or speaking while walking. The volunteers slowed down as they concentrated on the tasks and walked with shorter strides.
Attention is shared between mental and motor tasks, and thinking is given priority, the researchers reported to a neuroscience conference in Paris last week.
