Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph.D. Student at Tehran University, Kish International Campus, Kish Island, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Motor Behavior, Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan Branch, Isfahan, Iran
3 Associate Professor of Motor Behavior, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that postural stability can be enhanced by directing performers’ attention to the effects of their movements (external focus), rather than to the body movements producing the effect (internal focus). We examined whether the balance training and the attentional focus adopted on postural and supra-postural tasks have to influence postural control. Twenty elderly men (59.27 ± 5.77 years) selected randomly and participated in a single group pretest-posttest protocol. Balance training protocol consisted of 16 sessions of manipulated Romberg test for 30 min. Pretest and posttest components of the center of pressure, central-peripheral, and anterior-posterior displacement of participants’ balance were assessed by the Biodex Stability System (BSS) in postural and supra-postural tasks and also in 2 conditions of internal and external focus. The postural task included standing on the BSS in normal condition and the supra-postural task was standing on the BSS by holding a glass full of water. The attention manipulated by a focus on a point outside the body, and focus on decreasing the sway of the body during performing the tasks. Repeated measures of ANOVA with post-hoc Bonferroni test used at a p-value less than 0.05 and using by SPSS software (v. 22®). The present results showed the positive effects of balance training on all the components of postural control. Also, the findings indicated that external focus of attention in comparison with internal focus leads to a decrease in postural sway in all three components of postural control. This study suggests that the application of automatic control processes can be facilitated by simply directing performers’ attention away from their own body movements.
Keywords
Main Subjects
- Bardy BG. Postural coordination dynamics in standing humans. Coordination dynamics: Issues and trends. Berlin: Springer; 2004. p. 103-21.
- Cavanaugh JT, Guskiewicz KM, Stergiou N. A nonlinear dynamic approach for evaluating postural control. Sport Med. 2005;35(11):935-50.
- Peterka R. Sensorimotor integration in human postural control. J Neurophysiol. 2002;88(3):1097-118.
- Davidson PR, Wolpert DM. Widespread access to predictive models in the motor system: a short review. J Neural Eng. 2005;2(3):313.
- Stergiou N, Decker LM. Human movement variability, nonlinear dynamics, and pathology: is there a connection? Human movement sci. 2011;30(5):869-88.
- Camazine S. Self-organization in biological systems. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2003. p. 69-87.
- Donker SF, Roerdink M, Greven AJ, Beek PJ. Regularity of center-of-pressure trajectories depends on the amount of attention invested in postural control. Exp Brain Res. 2007;181(1):1-11.
- Oullier O, Marin L, Stoffregen TA, Bootsma R, Bardy BG. Variability in postural coordination dynamics. Mov Sys Varia. 2006;21(2): 25-47.
- McNevin NH, Shea CH, Wulf G. Increasing the distance of an external focus of attention enhances learning. Psychol Res. 2003;67(1):22-9.
- Wulf G. Attentional focus and motor learning: A review of 15 years. Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol. 2013;6(1):77-104.
- Hosseini L, Shojaei M, Aslankhani M-a. The effects of self-regulation and distance of external focus of attention on learning of badminton serve in young females. Res Mot Behav. 2013;1(1):1-10. (In Persian).
- Vance J, Wulf G, Töllner T, McNevin N, Mercer J. EMG activity as a function of the performer's focus of attention. J mot behav. 2004;36(4):450-9.
- Wulf G, Shea C, Park J-H. Attention and motor performance: Preferences for and advantages of an external focus. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2001;72(4):335-44.
- Namazizadeh M, Badami R. Comparison the effect of internal and external attention on learning to maintain dynamic balance. Res Sport Sci. 2005;3(7):59-71. (In Persian).
- Moghadam A, Vaez Mousavi M-K, Namazizadeh M. Effect of dfficulty of task and instruction of attentional focus on the balance task performance. Harkat. 2008;(36):23-37. (In Persian).
- Nafati G, Vuillerme N. Decreasing internal focus of attention improves postural control during quiet standing in young healthy adults. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2011;82(4):634-43.
- Naderi Rad N, Jaberi Moghadam AA, Tahmasebi Boroujeni S. The effect of attentional focus of supra-postural task on performance and learning of postural control in girls aged between 9 and 12. J Dev Mot Learn. 2017;9(3):383-67. (In Persian).
- Shahsavar M, Sohrabi M, Taheri H. The effects of internal and external focus of attention's instructions of suprapostural task on performance and learning of postural control. J Behav Sport Psychol. 2014;7:523-31. (In Persian).
- Pooraghaei Ardakani Z, Abdoli B, Farsi A, Ahmadi A. The effect of focus of attention instruction and manipulation of somatosensory on postural control in elderly. Motor Behavior. 2014;5(14):91-104. (In Persian).
- Parhizkar Kohneh Oghaz J, Zarghami M, Ghotbi Varzaneh A, Ghorbani A. Age and attentional focus related differences in postural control. Motor Learning and Movement. 2014;5(4):41-56. (In Persian).
- Charness A. Correlations of balance & gait measures with the UPDRS and with Each Other. Texas: The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; 2016.
- Testerman C, Griend RV. Evaluation of ankle instability using the Biodex Stability System. Foot Ankle Int. 1999;20(5):317-21.
- Arnold BL, Schmitz RJ. Examination of balance measures produced by the Biodex Stability System. J Athl Train. 1998;33(4):323-7.
- de Lima-Pardini AC, Coelho DB, Silva MB, Azzi NM, Martinelli AR, Horak FB, et al. Aging increases flexibility of postural reactive responses based on constraints imposed by a manual task. Front Aging Neurosci. 2014;6:327-35.
- de Lima AC, de Azevedo Neto RM, Teixeira LA. On the functional integration between postural and supra-postural tasks on the basis of contextual cues and task constraint. Gait posture. 2010;32(4):615-8.
- Stoffregen TA, Pagulayan RJ, Bardy BtG, Hettinger LJ. Modulating postural control to facilitate visual performance. Human Movement Sci. 2000;19(2):203-20.
- Wulf G, McNevin NH, Fuchs T, Ritter F, Toole T. Attentional focus in complex skill learning. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2000;71(3):229-39.
- Wulf G, McNevin N. Simply distracting learners is not enough: More evidence for the learning benefits of an external focus of attention. Eur J Sport Sci. 2003;3(5):1-13.
- Wulf G, Prinz W. Directing attention to movement effects enhances learning: A review. Psychon Bull Rev. 2001;8(4):648-60.
- Shafizadeh M, McMorri T, Sproule J. Effect of different external attention of focus instruction on learning of golf putting skill. Percept Mot Skills. 2011;113(2):662-70.
- Tahmasbi F, Aslankhani M-a, Namazizadeh M. The effects of attentional focus and internal and external visualization on the acquisition and retention of Dart Throw skill. Mot behav sport psychol. 2009;(25):116-2. (In Persian).
- Parvizi N, Shojaei M, Khalaji H, Daneshfar A. Effect of attention direction variation by instructional self-talk on performance and learning of Basketball free throw in young female students. Res Sport Man Mo Behav. 2011;(1):41-52. (In Persian).
- Salajeghe A, Saberi Kakhki A, Zareazade M. The effect of attentional focus types as the self talk form on acquisition and retention of Basketball chest pass. J Mot Behav. 2014;6(16):107-20. (In Persian).
- Laufer Y, Rotem-Lehrer N, Ronen Z, Khayutin G, Rozenberg I. Effect of attention focus on acquisition and retention of postural control following ankle sprain. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2007;88(1):105-8.
- Wulf G, McNevin N, Shea CH. The automaticity of complex motor skill learning as a function of attentional focus. Q J Exp Psychol A. 2001;54(4):1143-54.
)