Expected Graduation Year
2017
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Breanna Studenka
Abstract
The structure of variability in the human neuromotor system can be indicative of its health and function (Stergiou & Decker, 2011). More regular variation in gait is found in those with an ACL injury compared to those without (Decker, et al., 2011). Many things may influence postural control including where the mind is focused during a task. Focusing on something outside the body made performance on a balance task more automatic, whereas focusing on the body induced less automatic control (Wulf, et al., 2003). We tested the influence of attentional focus on non-linear aspects of postural sway post ACL injury. Participants stood on a force plate standing as still as possible, keeping the injured knee as still as possible, keeping the uninjured knee as still as possible, or keeping a laser beam as still as possible. Sample Entropy was measured for medial lateral sway, anterior posterior sway, and average displacement of the center of pressure from the mean. A 2 group (injured vs. non-injured) by 4 task (no focus, focus on injured knee, focus on uninjured knee, external focus) ANOVA was run to compare groups and tasks. Those in the ACL group had significantly more irregular sway than the non-injured group for anterior-posterior sway and average displacement. The ACL group, but not the no-injury group, had significantly more irregular average displacement during the external focus task compared to the internal focus tasks. These results lend support for the influence of attentional focus in rehabilitation settings.
References:
Decker, L.M., Moraiti, C.O., Stergiou, N., & Georgoulis, A.D. (2011). New insights into anterior cruciate ligament deficiency and reconstruction through the assessment of the knee kinematic variability in terms of nonlinear dynamics. Journal Articles. Paper 89.
Stergiou, N., & Decker, L. M. (2011). Human movement variability, nonlinear dynamics, and pathology: Is there a connection?. Human Movement Science, 30(5), 869-888.
Wulf, G., Weigelt, M., Poulter, D., McNevin, N., (2003). Attentional focus on suprapostural tasks affects balance learning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A: Human Experimental Psychology. 56(7), 1191-1211.
First Co-Presenter's Department
Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Recommended Citation
Ferguson, Natalie L., "Effects of attention on postural sway after ACL injury" (2017). Research on Capitol Hill. Paper 70.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/roch/70