Location versus task relevance: The impact of differing internal focus of attention instructions on motor performance.

Impaired performance while executing a motor task is attributed to a disruption of normal automatic processes when an internal focus of attention is used. What remains unclear is whether the specificity of internally focused task instructions may impact task performance. The present study assessed the implications of changing the attentional focus of novice and skilled golfers by measuring behavioural, neurophysiological and kinematic changes during a golf putting task.

Fitts's Law using lower extremity movement: Performance driven outcomes for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.

A paucity of objective outcome measures exists for assessing movement disorders, including degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Fitts's Law provides a novel approach to clinical outcome measurement since performance is resistant to learning, and task difficulty can be altered. The objective of the present study was to compare, using a Fitts's task, movement performance of individuals with and without LSS to determine if motor difficulties that arise with LSS impede the planning, initiation, or execution of deliberate lower limb movements.

Lumbar spinal stenosis and lower extremity motor control: the impact of walking-induced strain on a performance-based outcome measure.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to quantify the lower extremity movements and capabilities of a population with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) compared with healthy age-matched controls under conditions of strain and no strain. The secondary objective was to identify challenging movement conditions for a population with LSS, on a lower limb aiming task with different levels of difficulty, compared with healthy age-matched controls under conditions of strain and no strain.

Methods: Using a nonrandomized, controlled, before-and-after design, LSS patients (n = 16) and healthy controls (n = 16) performed 2 blocks of great toe-pointing movements to a series of projected squares.