Augmented Feedback - Focus of Attention

Providing augmented feedback and instructions that promote an external focus of attention have both been shown to improve sports performance and motor learning. However, when directly comparing these two approaches, we have demonstrated that objectively delivered information about actual performance (i.e., augmented feedback) generally outperforms an external focus of attention [1, 2], although combining the two approaches may yield even greater performance benefits under certain conditions [3]. We have further shown that the importance of feedback content and accuracy increases with the difficulty and complexity of the movement being learned [4]. Moreover, our findings indicate that augmented feedback can improve not only motor performance (e.g., contact time during running [5]) but also motor-cognitive performance, as demonstrated in soccer players [6].

Although both augmented feedback and an external focus of attention are established strategies for enhancing motor performance and learning, the underlying neural mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Through a series of experiments, we have demonstrated that performance improvements associated with an external focus of attention—across tasks involving fine motor coordination, endurance, and explosive force—are accompanied by increased intracortical inhibition [7] and more pronounced surround inhibition [8]. These findings suggest that enhanced inhibition may help to focus neural activation, thereby increasing the efficiency, economy, and goal-directedness of motor execution [9]. Furthermore, using H-reflex conditioning combined with TMS, we have shown that the slower, indirect corticospinal pathways are inhibited when an external focus of attention is adopted [10]. Taken together, these findings suggest that an external focus of attention may sharpen the motor command in both space and time, promoting more economical and goal-directed movement execution.

More recently, and somewhat unexpectedly, we found that augmented feedback may elicit similar neural adaptations to those observed with an external focus of attention. Specifically, augmented feedback was associated with enhanced surround inhibition in adjacent muscles and increased intracortical inhibition (Kuhn et al., in preparation). Because intracortical inhibition was measured immediately before the execution of explosive movements, we had expected inhibition to be reduced to allow maximal neural drive. The observed increase may instead reflect a mechanism that helps to precisely time muscle activation, potentially followed by a well-timed release of inhibition to enable movement execution. However, this interpretation remains speculative and requires direct testing in future studies.

^{1. Keller, M., Y.A. Kuhn, F. Lüthy, and W. Taube, How to Serve Faster in Tennis: The Influence of an Altered Focus of Attention and Augmented Feedback on Service Speed in Elite Players. J Strength Cond Res, 2021. 35(4): p. 1119-1126.}

^{2. Keller, M., B. Lauber, M. Gottschalk, and W. Taube, Enhanced jump performance when providing augmented feedback compared to an external or internal focus of attention. J Sports Sci, 2015. 33(10): p. 1067-75.}

^{3. Walchli, M., J. Ruffieux, Y. Bourquin, M. Keller, and W. Taube, Maximizing Performance: Augmented Feedback, Focus of Attention, and/or Reward? Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2016. 48(4): p. 714-9.}

^{4. Bugnon, M., M. Wälchli, and W. Taube, How to benefit from augmented feedback? The influence of motivational and informational content of augmented feedback and the influence of task complexity. European Journal of Sport Science, 2023. 23(7): p. 1435-1445.}

^{5. Gilgen-Ammann, R., T. Wyss, S. Troesch, L. Heyer, and W. Taube, Positive Effects of Augmented Feedback to Reduce Time on Ground in Well-Trained Runners. Int J Sports Physiol Perform, 2018: p. 1-7.}

^{6. Hicheur, H., A. Chauvin, V. Cavin, J. Fuchslocher, M. Tschopp, and W. Taube, Augmented-Feedback Training Improves Cognitive Motor Performance of Soccer Players. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2020. 52(1): p. 141-152.}

^{7. Kuhn, Y.A., M. Keller, J. Ruffieux, and W. Taube, Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention. J Vis Exp, 2017(127).}

^{8. Kuhn, Y.A., M. Keller, B. Lauber, and W. Taube, Surround inhibition can instantly be modulated by changing the attentional focus. Sci Rep, 2018. 8(1): p. 1085.}

^{9. Kuhn, Y.A. and W. Taube, Changes in the Brain with an External Focus of Attention: Neural Correlates. Exerc Sport Sci Rev, 2025. 53(2): p. 49-59.}

^{10. Kuhn, Y.A., M. Keller, S. Egger, and W. Taube, Effects of an external compared to an internal focus of attention on the excitability of fast and slow(er) motor pathways. Scientific Reports, 2021. 11(1).}