Sport Sciences Research Institute Motor Behavior 2538-273X Articles in Press 2024 04 30 The effect of focus of attention on the Electromyographic activity of the lower limb muscles of the elderly while walking... The effect of focus of attention on the Electromyographic activity of the lower limb muscles of the elderly while walking... 4280 10.22089/mbj.2024.15251.2114 FA Shirin Yazdani department of motor behavior, faculty of physical education and sport science, university of Tabriz 0000-0002-0549-9694 Mohammadtaghi Aghdasi professor at Tabriz University 0000-0001-8921-1856 Amir Salimi Ph. D Student of Motor Behavior 0000-0002-9605-522X Journal Article 2023 07 09 The present study aimed to investigate the effect of focus of attention on the electrical activity of lower limb muscles in elderly individuals. This is a semi-experimental design study. Ten retired elderly male individuals were selected based on convenience sampling method. Using USB2+ electromyography system, the electrical activity of right and left rectus femoris, biceps femoris, and tibialis anterior muscles during walking without attention instruction and walking with internal and external focus of attention were measured. The obtained signals were processed using OTBiolab software. The repeated measures ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Results showed that during walking with internal focus, there was higher muscular activity compared to walking with external and without attention instruction (p<0.05). The pattern of electrical activity of different muscles was similar across different instructions, and there was no significant interaction between the instruction and muscle (p=0.06) factors, with the highest muscular activity in all three instructions being related to the rectus femoris and the lowest being related to the biceps femoris. Based on our results it can be concluded that, EMG activity of lower limb muscles in elderly subjects while walking with and without external focus of attention were less than internal focus of attention. It is attributed to the more economical movement and improved neuromuscular efficiency. Considering that external focus of attention reduces energy consumption and produce more automatic movement compared to internal focus, it is recommended external focus instructions instead of internal focus attention for increasing intramuscular coordination and efficiency in elderly individuals. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of focus of attention on the electrical activity of lower limb muscles in elderly individuals. This is a semi-experimental design study. Ten retired elderly male individuals were selected based on convenience sampling method. Using USB2+ electromyography system, the electrical activity of right and left rectus femoris, biceps femoris, and tibialis anterior muscles during walking without attention instruction and walking with internal and external focus of attention were measured. The obtained signals were processed using OTBiolab software. The repeated measures ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Results showed that during walking with internal focus, there was higher muscular activity compared to walking with external and without attention instruction (p<0.05). The pattern of electrical activity of different muscles was similar across different instructions, and there was no significant interaction between the instruction and muscle (p=0.06) factors, with the highest muscular activity in all three instructions being related to the rectus femoris and the lowest being related to the biceps femoris. Based on our results it can be concluded that, EMG activity of lower limb muscles in elderly subjects while walking with and without external focus of attention were less than internal focus of attention. It is attributed to the more economical movement and improved neuromuscular efficiency. Considering that external focus of attention reduces energy consumption and produce more automatic movement compared to internal focus, it is recommended external focus instructions instead of internal focus attention for increasing intramuscular coordination and efficiency in elderly individuals.