Motor performance in violin bowing: Effects of attentional focus on acoustical, physiological and physical parameters of a sound-producing action

The constrained action hypothesis states that focusing attention on action outcomes rather than body movement improves motor performance. Dexterity of motor control is key to successful music performance, making this a highly relevant topic to music education. We investigated effects of focus of attention (FOA) on motor skill performance and EMG muscle activity in a violin bowing task among experienced and novice upper strings players. Following a pedagogically informed exercise, participants attempted to produce single oscillations of the string at a time under three FOA: internal (on arm movement), external (on sound produced), and somatic (on string resistance). Experienced players’ number of bow slips was significantly reduced under somatic focus relative to internal, although number of successful oscillations was not affected. Triceps electromyographic activity was also significantly lower in somatic compared to internal foci for both expertise groups, consistent with physiological understandings of FOA effects. Participants’ reported thoughts during the experiment provided insight into whether aspects of constrained action may be evident in performers’ conscious thinking. These results provide novel support for the constrained action hypothesis in violin bow control, suggesting a somatic FOA as a promising performance-enhancing strategy for bowed string technique.

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Relation of exercise capacity to comprehensive physical functions in individuals with ischemic stroke

Neurorehabilitation ◽

10.3233/nre-201630 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

So-Young Ahn ◽

Nam-Gi Lee ◽

Tae-Heon Lee

Keyword(s):

Ischemic Stroke ◽

Exercise Capacity ◽

Motor Function ◽

Significant Relationship ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Physical Parameters ◽

Walk Test ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Physical Functions ◽

Control Balance

BACKGROUND: Impaired motor control, balance, muscle strength, and respiratory function may affect the exercise capacity related to motor performance and activities in individuals with stroke. OBJECTIVE: To identify a physical parameter that the exercise capacity has the most significant relationship among physical parameters related to motor function, trunk control, balance, and motor performance and activities in individuals with ischemic stroke. METHODS: In total, 241 ischemic stroke patients were recruited in this retrospective study. The clinical measurements included the 6-minute walk test (6 MWT), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), Fugl-Meyer assessment-lower extremity motor function (FMA-LE), trunk impairment scale (TIS), Berg balance scale (BBS), timed up and go test (TUG), 10-meter walk test (10 MWT), functional ambulation category (FAC), and functional independence measure (FIM). RESULTS: The 6 MWT was significantly correlated with the FMA-LE, BBS, TUG, 10 MWT, FAC, and FIM, indicating negative or positive moderate correlations. Additionally, the FMA-LE, TIS, BBS, TUG, 10 MWT, FAC, and FIM, excluding the 6 MWT, showed moderate to strong correlations with all of the other outcome measures, whereas the MoCA showed significant correlations only with the BBS and FIM. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the exercise capacity has the most significant relationship with the TUG parameter in stroke patients. Additionally, we suggest that significant relationships between 6 MWT and other comprehensive physical functions measurements are closely related to walking ability in individuals with stroke.

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Effects of attentional focus on upper extremity motor performance in post stroke patients

Medicine ◽

10.1097/md.0000000000024656 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 100 (9) ◽

pp. e24656

Author(s):

Camila L. A. Gomes ◽

Roberta O. Cacho ◽

Viviane T. B. Nobrega ◽

Fabio Galvão ◽

Denise S. de Araújo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Extremity ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Post Stroke

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External relative to internal attentional focus enhances motor performance and learning in visually impaired individuals

Disability and Rehabilitation ◽

10.1080/09638288.2019.1566408 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (18) ◽

pp. 2621-2630 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Reza Abdollahipour ◽

William M. Land ◽

Ana Cereser ◽

Suzete Chiviacowsky

Keyword(s):

Motor Performance ◽

Visually Impaired ◽

Attentional Focus

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Influence of Attentional Focus Instructions on Motor Performance Among Adolescents With Severe Visual Impairment

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.1177/0031512519869090 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 126 (6) ◽

pp. 1145-1157 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Scott W. T. McNamara ◽

Kevin A. Becker ◽

William Weigel ◽

Peter Marcy ◽

Justin Haegele

Keyword(s):

Visual Acuity ◽

Visual Impairment ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Potential Benefit ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Competitive Sports ◽

External Focus ◽

Internal Focus ◽

Discrete Task ◽

Acuity Score

Substantial research has demonstrated that an external (vs. internal) attentional focus enhances motor performance among various populations. Interest has recently grown in examining the effects of attentional focus among individuals with visual impairments (VI), and, to date, research results have been conflicting with some studies supporting a potential benefit to an external focus among adults with VI, while a study of children with severe VI was inconclusive regarding this benefit. The present investigation compared the effects of an internal versus an external attentional focus on a discrete throwing task among adolescents with severe VI. We recruited 13 participants with a visual acuity score of less than 6/60 and had them throw a Goalball (25 cm ball with bells often used in competitive sports designed for people with VI) as fast as possible for three familiarization trials, three internal focus trials, and three external focus trials. These participants threw the ball with significantly higher velocity when using an external focus than in other conditions, indicating a benefit from an external focus for this population when performing this discrete task.

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The Effect of Different Attentional Focus Instructions during Finger Movement Tasks in Healthy Subjects: An Exploratory Study

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2017/2946465 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Giacomo Rossettini ◽

Marco Testa ◽

Marco Vicentini ◽

Paolo Manganotti

Keyword(s):

Healthy Subjects ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Control Group ◽

Finger Movement ◽

External Focus ◽

Internal Focus ◽

And Control

External focus of attention (EFA) and internal focus of attention (IFA) represent commonly used strategies to instruct subjects during exercise. Several studies showed EFA to be more effective than IFA to improve motor performance and learning. To date the role of these strategies on motor performance during finger movement was less studied. The objective of the study was to investigate motor performance, patient’s preference induced by IFA and EFA, and the focus during control condition. Ten healthy right-handed participants performed a finger movement task in control, EFA, and IFA conditions (counterbalanced). Errors, patient’s preference, and type of attentional focus spontaneously adopted during the control condition were recorded. EFA determined less error (p<0.01) compared to control and IFA. Participants preferred EFA against IFA and control condition. In the control group 10% of subjects adopted a purely EFA, 70% of subjects adopted a purely IFA, and 20% of subjects adopted a mixture of the two foci. Our results confirm that EFA is more effective than IFA and control in finger movement task. Due its clinical relevance, the interaction between attention and finger movement should be further investigated.

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Skill-based changes in motor performance from attentional focus manipulations: a kinematic analysis

Ergonomics ◽

10.1080/00140139.2015.1094578 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Louisa D. Raisbeck ◽

Joel Suss ◽

Jed A. Diekfuss ◽

Erich Petushek ◽

Paul Ward

Keyword(s):

Kinematic Analysis ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Attentional Focus

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Putting Attention on the Spot in Coaching: Shifting to an External Focus of Attention With Imagery Techniques to Improve Basketball Free-Throw Shooting Performance

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645676 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Kyle R. Milley ◽

Gene P. Ouellette

Keyword(s):

Motor Performance ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Performance Outcomes ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Future Research ◽

Imagery Condition ◽

Free Throw ◽

External Focus ◽

Underlying Mechanisms ◽

Imagery Techniques

Attentional focus is an area that has garnered considerable attention in the sport psychology and motor performance literature. This is unsurprising given that attentional focus has been directly linked to performance outcomes and is susceptible to coaching input. While research has amassed supporting benefits of an external focus of attention (EFA) on motor performance using verbal instruction, other studies have challenged the notion that an EFA is more beneficial than an internal focus of attention (IFA) for sport-related performance. Further, it is unclear what type of instructions may serve to direct an athlete to an EFA and, in particular, if coaching can utilize imagery to orient an athlete toward an EFA. In the present exploratory study, we evaluate the effectiveness of instruction to improve free-throw shooting performance with an emphasis on an EFA brought about by implementing techniques borrowed from the imagery literature. This was tested relative to an alternate approach with an IFA induced through an emphasis on technique, devised to more closely resemble input typical of coach-to-athlete instruction. Twenty-five male and female university basketball players completed both conditions in a fully counterbalanced within-subject design. Results confirmed that participants in the EFA imagery condition had greater shooting accuracy than in the IFA technique condition. The study provides initial evidence that EFA coaching can borrow from imagery techniques, though future research should elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the effect.

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