The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of attentional focus instructions on acute changes in the transverse relaxation time (T2) of the femorotibial cartilage and in cartilage volume during repeated drop‐jump landings. Ten healthy females (Mage = 20.4 ± 0.8 years) performed a drop landing task from a 50 cm high box over the course of 3 days (50 repetitions each day) across three attentional focus conditions: external focus (EF: focus on landing as soft as possible), internal focus (IF: focus on bending your knees when you land), and control (CON: no‐focus instruction), which was counterbalanced across focus conditions. T2 mapping and the volume of femorotibial cartilage were determined from magnetic resonance imaging scans at 1.5 T for the dominant knee before and after completing the drop landings in each attentional focus condition per day. Results indicated a smaller change in cartilage T2 relaxation time and volumetry in the central load‐bearing lateral cartilage under the EF, compared to IF and CON. Moreover, the change in T2 and cartilage volume was greater for lateral tibial cartilage as compared to femoral cartilage and was independent of attentional focus instructions. No significant acute quantitative changes were observed in the medial compartment. The peak vertical ground reaction force was found to be the lowest under the EF, compared to IF and CON. These findings suggest that external focus of attention may reduce cartilage load, potentially aiding in the control or management of cartilage injuries during landing in female athletes.

中文翻译：

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外部注意力集中可减少跌落着陆时的软骨负荷


本研究的目的是检查注意力集中指令对重复跳伞着陆过程中股胫软骨横向松弛时间（T2）和软骨体积急剧变化的影响。十名健康女性（法师 = 20.4 ± 0.8 岁）在 3 天的时间里（每天重复 50 次）执行了从 50 厘米高的盒子上降落的任务，涉及三种注意力集中条件：外部焦点（EF：专注于软着陆）尽可能），内部焦点（IF：着陆时专注于弯曲膝盖）和控制（CON：无焦点指令），这是在焦点条件下平衡的。 T2 映射和股胫软骨体积是通过每天在每个注意力集中条件下完成下降着陆之前和之后对主膝进行 1.5 T 的磁共振成像扫描来确定的。结果表明，与 IF 和 CON 相比，EF 下中央承重外侧软骨的软骨 T2 松弛时间和体积变化较小。此外，与股骨软骨相比，胫骨外侧软骨的 T2 和软骨体积的变化更大，并且与注意力集中指令无关。在内侧室中没有观察到显着的急性数量变化。与 IF 和 CON 相比，EF 下的峰值垂直地面反作用力最低。这些发现表明，外部注意力集中可能会减少软骨负荷，可能有助于控制或管理女运动员落地过程中的软骨损伤。