External focus strategy improves visuomotor control of gait in older adults.

IF 2.2 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL

Psychological Research-Psychologische Forschung Pub Date : 2025-04-23 DOI:10.1007/s00426-025-02122-3

Toby C T Mak, Thomson W L Wong, Melody C Y Leung, Duo W C Wong, Debbie C L Chan, Shamay S M Ng

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose: Few studies have adopted external focus strategies to mitigate the negative effects of conscious movement processing in older adults. We investigated whether a single-session intervention (SSI) using an external focus could improve gait stability and visual search behaviors during adaptive locomotion in older adults.

Methods: We randomly allocated 112 older adults to either an external focus (EXT, n = 56) or a control group (CON, n = 56). Participants performed an obstacle circumvention walking task along an 8-m walkway for five trials at pre-intervention (T0), post-intervention (T1), and retention (T2). The training phase consisted of 20 walking trials with obstacle circumvention. EXT focused on digits displayed on monitors at their path destinations during walking, while CON walked naturally without any specific instructions. Gait kinematics (i.e., gait variabilities and body sway) and visual search data were collected at T0, T1, and T2.

Results: Only EXT reduced body sway and variability of spatial and temporal gait parameters, while increasing gait speed when comparing T1 and T2 to T0. EXT also reduced the number of visual fixation and fixation duration percentage on the ground while increasing fixation duration percentage on the destination when comparing T1 and T2 to T0.

Conclusions: This study is the first to explore SSI with an external focus in older adults, providing evidence of significant improvements in gait stability and visual search behaviors that facilitate feedforward planning. Practicing with an external focus strategy could be recommended as an adjunctive psychomotor approach in clinical settings to enhance visuomotor performance in older adults.

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外焦点策略改善老年人步态的视觉运动控制。

目的：很少有研究采用外部焦点策略来减轻老年人有意识运动加工的负面影响。我们研究了使用外部焦点的单次干预（SSI）是否可以改善老年人适应性运动中的步态稳定性和视觉搜索行为。方法：我们将112名老年人随机分配到外部焦点组（EXT, n = 56）和对照组（CON, n = 56）。参与者在干预前（T0）、干预后（T1）和保留（T2）的5个试验中沿着一条8米长的人行道进行障碍规避行走任务。训练阶段包括20个步行试验和障碍规避。EXT在行走过程中专注于在路径目的地的显示器上显示的数字，而CON在没有任何具体指示的情况下自然行走。在T0， T1和T2收集步态运动学（即步态变异性和身体摇摆）和视觉搜索数据。结果：在T1和T2与T0比较时，只有EXT减少了身体摆动和时空步态参数的变异性，同时增加了步态速度。当T1和T2与T0比较时，EXT还减少了地面上的视觉注视次数和注视时间百分比，而增加了目的地上的注视时间百分比。结论：本研究首次探讨了老年人外焦的SSI，提供了显著改善步态稳定性和视觉搜索行为的证据，促进了前馈计划。练习外焦点策略可以推荐作为辅助精神运动方法在临床设置，以提高视觉运动表现的老年人。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Psychological Research-Psychologische Forschung PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL-

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

8.70%

发文量

137

期刊介绍： Psychological Research/Psychologische Forschung publishes articles that contribute to a basic understanding of human perception, attention, memory, and action. The Journal is devoted to the dissemination of knowledge based on firm experimental ground, but not to particular approaches or schools of thought. Theoretical and historical papers are welcome to the extent that they serve this general purpose; papers of an applied nature are acceptable if they contribute to basic understanding or serve to bridge the often felt gap between basic and applied research in the field covered by the Journal.