The Kinetic Chain Has a Brain: Could Adding Cognitive Demands in Lower Limb Injury Prevention Programs Improve Outcomes?

The most effective lower limb injury prevention programs include strength training, balance exercises, and instructions on how to land safely from a jump or hop. Yet, the programs are not 100% effective-lower extremity noncontact injuries continue to be a significant problem. We suggest that adding...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy 2023-04, Vol.53 (4), p.159-161
Main Authors: Huddleston, Wendy E, Probasco, Mark O, Reyes, Michaela A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries - rehabilitation
Athletes
Athletic Injuries - prevention & control
Brain
Cognition
Humans
Knee
Lower Extremity
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Summary:The most effective lower limb injury prevention programs include strength training, balance exercises, and instructions on how to land safely from a jump or hop. Yet, the programs are not 100% effective-lower extremity noncontact injuries continue to be a significant problem. We suggest that adding cognitive training to motor tasks that currently comprise current lower limb injury prevention programs might help clinicians, athletes, and coaches continue to make inroads into preventing knee injuries. We ground our hypotheses in robust findings from cognitive neuroscience and rehabilitation, suggesting that when task demands exceed the attentional capacity of an individual, the risk for noncontact lower extremity injuries increases. In this editorial, we explain the concepts of attentional capacity and attentional demands, and the interplay of the two in sport, to justify including cognitive tasks to injury prevention programs to improve outcomes. .
ISSN:0190-6011
1938-1344
1938-1344
DOI:10.2519/jospt.2023.11403