Motor Learning Clinical Trial
Official title:
The Effectiveness of Attentional Strategies on Throwing Performance and Gaze Behavior of Self-paced Tasks Under Fatigue and Non-fatigue Conditions
Focusing attention is pertinent to the performance of closed self-paced motor tasks. The following study will examine the effectiveness of internal and external focus of attention instructions on the performance of a dart throwing task under rested and fatigue (after performing intense exercise) conditions. As well as the relationship between attentional focus instructions and gaze behavior under these two conditions.
The participants will arrive at the Ribstein Center for Sports Medicine and Research at the
Wingate Institute on four different occasions, 2-3 days apart, in order to complete three
motor learning phases. Session 1 and 2 will include the acquisition phase, Session 3 will
include the retention and transfer phases, and the last visit, Session 4, will include the
fatigued session.
Sessions 1 and 2 The participants will be informed of the purpose, methods, and study
protocol. Then an informed consent form will be provided to the participant to be signed.
The participants will learn the throwing task according to specific instructions.
Participants in all groups will be given the same technical instructions on how to throw the
dart. The technical instructions will be followed by attentional focus instructions that
will differ between groups. After receiving the instructions, the participants in both these
groups will be given a questionnaire to fill in. The researcher will go over the answers
with each participant to ensure that the instructions were understood. If needed, the
instructions will be repeated until appropriate understanding and performance is achieved.
Then, a 3-min practice period will begin. The participants of the internal focus group will
be asked to perform the throwing movement of the arms 20 times without holding the dart. The
external focus group's participants will be asked to perform the throwing motion 20 times
while holding the dart. The participants in the control group will be asked to practice
their stance, posture, and the holding of the dart.
Testing will begin after the preparation period. The Mobile Eye gaze tracking system will be
fitted and calibrated to six different reference locations. The calibration target will be a
board with six "X" shapes spaced 30 cm apart on a white paper that will be placed on the
target. The external video will be located perpendicular to the participant in a way that
the upper body and the arm movement can be seen in the frame. The participant will then
perform the dart throwing task of 5 blocks of 12 trials, with a 2-min rest in between each
block of trials. During the 2-min rest interval the researcher will remind each participant
to use the attenational focus strategy. During the rest interval between the blocks, the
system's calibration will be checked and calibrated again if necessary. In total, each
participant will complete 120 trials of the dart throwing task in the acquisition phase.
Session 3 Upon arrival to the Lab, participants will be fitted with the Mobile Eye system,
and calibration will be performed. The external video camera will be turned on and the
participants will perform the same dart throwing task for 2 blocks of 10 trials, with 2min
of rest in between. A transfer task will be performed after a 15-min break. Participants
will be re-fitted with the Mobile Eye and re-calibration will be performed. The transfer
task (an underarm throw) will be performed for 2 blocks of 10 trials with 2-min of rest in
between.
Session 4 On the fourth and final visit, the participants will be randomly assigned into two
groups. Each subgroup will perform two blocks of 10 trials, with a 60-sec rest in between,
under different types of anaerobic physical exertions: (1) Leg Anaerobic condition
(WAnT-leg): using the modified WAnT, and (2) Arm anaerobic condition (WAnT-arm): using the
WAnT arm modification.
Before commencing the exercise test protocol, anthropometric measures will be determined for
each participant. Height and body mass will be measured using a stadiometer (Seca,
Birmingham, UK) and a digital scale (Model HBF-514C, Omron Healthcare Inc, Bannockburn,
Illinois), respectively, and will be recorded to the nearest 0.1 cm and 0.1 kg,
respectively. Skinfold thickness will be measured in triplicate using Caliper (Skyndex
System 1, Caldwell, Justiss & Company, Inc, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA). The following
sites will be evaluated: biceps, triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac. Adiposity (percentage
of body fat) will be estimated from the appropriate skinfold measurements using Durning and
Womersly equations (Durnin & Womersley, 1974). All measurements will be performed by the
same investigator. Preceding the anthropometric measurement and before beginning either
test, either ergometer will be individually adjusted to fit each participant's height and
body size. A heart rate monitor (Polar FT1, Polar Electro, USA) will be worn by each subject
in order to record heart rate data. The eye tracking system will be put on and calibrated.
Then the participants will remove the apparatus and will begin the physical exertion test.
Subsequently, the participants will warm up for the WAnT-leg (men=75 W; women=50 W) and for
the WAnT-arm (men=30 W; women=unloaded) by exercising at 60 rpm for 5 min.
During the warm-up period, participants will be asked to perform three all-out 5-sec sprints
on the command of the researcher. Following the warm-up, participants will rest quietly for
10 min. Then the participants will perform ten consecutive 10 seconds sprints interspersed
with 15 seconds recovery intervals. The participant will be instructed to sprint as fast as
possible for 10 seconds. Verbal encouragement will be given during the test. The resistance
for men will be set at 0.931 and 0.601 N/Kg-1, and for women 0.833 and 0.470 N/Kg-1 during
the WAnT-leg and the WAnT-arm, respectively (Weber, Chia, & Inbar, 2006). Participants will
be instructed to remain seated throughout the test and will be given verbal encouragement to
maintain an all-out effort throughout the 10 seconds sprints. During each sprint, peak and
mean power outputs will be calculated. Peak power (PP) will be the highest power produced in
a 1 sec segment of each 10 seconds sprint, whereas mean power (MP) will be calculated as the
average power during the 10 seconds duration. PP and MP will be expressed in watts and
relative to body mass (W/Kg). A fatigue index (FI) will be calculated as the absolute
difference between the PP and the MP divided by the PP and expressed in percentage (%FI). In
order to monitor the exercise intensity during each exertion protocol, the following
measures will be obtained prior to the beginning of the test, at the end of the last 10
seconds sprint and 3min and 5min after the last sprint: heart rate, lactate levels, and rate
of perceived exertion. Five minutes after completing the WAnT-leg or-arm test, the
participants will put on the eye tracking apparatus; if needed the system will be
re-calibrated. Then the subject will be asked to perform the throwing task without
additional explanation. This time period was chosen based on previous studies that found
peak lactate after the WAnT test to occur following approximately 5 min of recovery
(Weinstein, Bediz, Dotan, & Falk, 1998). At the end of the fourth session, participants will
be asked to fill in the learning strategies' implementation questionnaire. This 4-questions
questionnaire will include two close-ended questions and two open-ended questions, and is
meant to check whether participants used their assigned attentional focus strategies.
;
Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Subject)
| Status | Clinical Trial | Phase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed |
NCT06414213 -
Improving Locomotor Learning With Brain Stimulation
|
N/A | |
| Recruiting |
NCT06039605 -
Priming Expectations and Motor Learning With tDCS
|
N/A | |
| Recruiting |
NCT05467657 -
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Somtosensory Cortex Enhances Motor Learning in People With Stroke
|
N/A | |
| Completed |
NCT04690244 -
The Effect of Tai Chi Chuan in Older Adults
|
N/A | |
| Recruiting |
NCT05910814 -
Effect of Physical Exercise on Motor Learning Acquired With Physical or Mental Practice
|
N/A | |
| Completed |
NCT02189564 -
Rewarding Feedback in Motor Learning and Rehabilitation
|
N/A | |
| Recruiting |
NCT06262425 -
rTMS Over S1 Enhance Motor Learning in Healthy People
|
N/A | |
| Not yet recruiting |
NCT04191083 -
Motor Imagery and Action Observation on Motor Learning
|
N/A | |
| Not yet recruiting |
NCT04129307 -
Brain Training Tools With Physical Practice on Motor Learning
|
N/A | |
| Not yet recruiting |
NCT04784832 -
TMS-based Assessment of Mental Training Effects on Motor Learning in Healthy Participants
|
N/A | |
| Recruiting |
NCT04896840 -
Tele-rehabilitation in Children With Cerebral Palsy in the Covid-19 Pandemic
|
N/A | |
| Completed |
NCT02813291 -
MI Practice and tDCS With Aging
|
N/A | |
| Completed |
NCT03249961 -
How Many Days Would You Want to Practice a Skill to Achieve it?
|
N/A |