The Goal of the Research
The goal of the study was to determine whether the focus of attention affected the motor performance and the activity of the primary motor cortex when implementing strenuous tasks involving the right index finger (Kuhn, Keller, Ruffieux, & Taube, 2017).
How the Goal Relates to My Research
External focus of attention enhances motor performance and motor learning, which are critical to reaction times during sport activities. Specific activities that benefit from this phenomenon include balance, accuracy, jumping, oxygen consumption, production of force, movement, speed, and tiresome tasks (Kuhn et al., 2017).
Summary
The authors employed a repeated-measures design to assess the difference in motor cortical activity in external focus (EF) as opposed to internal focus (IF) conditions. EF prolonged time to task failure substantially, enhanced subTMS-induced electromyographical suppression, and increased short-interval intracortical inhibition (Kuhn et al., 2017). The authors concluded that it was possible to alter the activity of inhibitory circuits by altering the type of attentional focus.
References
Bezdek, M. A., Gerrig, R. J., Wenzel, W. G., Shin, J., Revill, K. P., & Schumacher, E. H. (2015). Neural evidence that suspense narrows attentional focus. Neuroscience, 303, 338-345.
Calatayud, J., Vinstrup, J., Jakobsen, M. D., Sundstrup, E., Colado, J. C., & Andersen, L. L. (2017). Influence of different attentional focus on EMG amplitude and contraction duration during the bench press at different speeds. Journal of Sports Sciences, 36(10), 1162-1166.
Eldar, E., Cohen, J. D., & Niv, Y. (2013). The effects of neural gain on attention and learning. Nature Neuroscience, 16(8), 1146-1153.
Kuhn, Y. A., Keller, M., Ruffieux, J., & Taube, W. (2017). Adopting an external focus of attention alters intracortical inhibition within the primary motor cortex. Acta Physiologica, 220(2), 289-299.
Mohammadabad, M. S., & Shahbazi, S. (2017). Effectiveness of perceptual–motor training on reaction time and anticipation children with hyperactivity disorder / attention deficit. Der Pharmacia Lettre, 9(2), 38-47.
Stoate, I., & Wulf, G. (2011). Does the attentional focus adopted by swimmers affect their performance? International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 6(1), 99-108.