Can Popular Word Search Puzzles Affect Walking Speed in Older Adults?

Abstract

We examined whether supraliminal word stimuli can affect walking speed of older adults in laboratory settings. The 78 physically active subjects (age >65 years) were randomly assigned to prime and control conditions. All subjects walked 19 m measured distance pre- and post-completing a word search puzzle containing either words associated with early adulthood or neutral ones. Although participants in the prime group went faster in the posttest, the ANOVA did not reveal significant interaction between the subjects’ conditions and walking speed. No significant priming effect of exposure to words on walking speed in older adults was detected in the current study. There is a need for further research, as there is a lack of data in this age cohort. The priming effect could possibly be used to increase the physical activity of seniors and may bias the clinical outputs in gait tests.