TY - JOUR A1 - Stone, Kate A1 - von der Malsburg, Titus Raban A1 - Vasishth, Shravan T1 - The effect of decay and lexical uncertainty on processing long-distance dependencies in reading JF - PeerJ N2 - To make sense of a sentence, a reader must keep track of dependent relationships between words, such as between a verb and its particle (e.g. turn the music down). In languages such as German, verb-particle dependencies often span long distances, with the particle only appearing at the end of the clause. This means that it may be necessary to process a large amount of intervening sentence material before the full verb of the sentence is known. To facilitate processing, previous studies have shown that readers can preactivate the lexical information of neighbouring upcoming words, but less is known about whether such preactivation can be sustained over longer distances. We asked the question, do readers preactivate lexical information about long-distance verb particles? In one self-paced reading and one eye tracking experiment, we delayed the appearance of an obligatory verb particle that varied only in the predictability of its lexical identity. We additionally manipulated the length of the delay in order to test two contrasting accounts of dependency processing: that increased distance between dependent elements may sharpen expectation of the distant word and facilitate its processing (an antilocality effect), or that it may slow processing via temporal activation decay (a locality effect). We isolated decay by delaying the particle with a neutral noun modifier containing no information about the identity of the upcoming particle, and no known sources of interference or working memory load. Under the assumption that readers would preactivate the lexical representations of plausible verb particles, we hypothesised that a smaller number of plausible particles would lead to stronger preactivation of each particle, and thus higher predictability of the target. This in turn should have made predictable target particles more resistant to the effects of decay than less predictable target particles. The eye tracking experiment provided evidence that higher predictability did facilitate reading times, but found evidence against any effect of decay or its interaction with predictability. The self-paced reading study provided evidence against any effect of predictability or temporal decay, or their interaction. In sum, we provide evidence from eye movements that readers preactivate long-distance lexical content and that adding neutral sentence information does not induce detectable decay of this activation. The findings are consistent with accounts suggesting that delaying dependency resolution may only affect processing if the intervening information either confirms expectations or adds to working memory load, and that temporal activation decay alone may not be a major predictor of processing time. KW - reading KW - comprehension KW - temporal decay KW - preactivation KW - long distance KW - dependencies KW - entropy KW - psycholinguistics KW - locality KW - antilocality Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10438 SN - 2167-8359 VL - 8 PB - PeerJ Inc. CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Lesinski, Melanie T1 - Modulating factors for drop jump performance T1 - Einflussfaktoren auf die Leistung im Niederhochsprung (Drop Jump) N2 - Background and objectives: Drop jumps (DJs) are well-established exercise drills during plyometric training. Several sports are performed under unstable surface conditions (e.g., soccer, beach volleyball, gymnastics). To closely mimic sport-specific demands, plyometric training includes DJs on both stable and unstable surfaces. According to the mechanical properties of the unstable surface (e.g., thickness, stiffness), altered temporal, mechanical, and physiological demands have been reported from previous cross-sectional studies compared with stable conditions. However, given that the human body simultaneously interacts with various factors (e.g., drop height, footwear, gender) during DJs on unstable surfaces, the investigation of isolated effects of unstable surface conditions might not be sufficient for designing an effective and safe DJ stimulus. Instead, the combined investigation of different factors and their interaction with surface instability have to be taken into consideration. Therefore, the present doctoral thesis seeks to complement our knowledge by examining the main and interaction effects of surface instability, drop height, footwear, and gender on DJ performance, knee joint kinematics, and neuromuscular activation. Methods: Healthy male and female physically active sports science students aged 19-26 years participated in the cross-sectional studies. Jump performance, sagittal and frontal plane knee joint kinematics, and leg muscle activity were measured during DJs on stable (i.e., firm force plate) and (highly) unstable surfaces (i.e., one or two AIREX® balance pads) from different drop heights (i.e., 20 cm, 40 cm, 60 cm) or under multiple footwear conditions (i.e., barefoot, minimal shoes, cushioned shoes). Results: Findings revealed that surface instability caused a DJ performance decline, reduced sagittal plane knee joint kinematics, and lower leg muscle activity during DJs. Sagittal plane knee joint kinematics as well as leg muscle activity decreased even more with increasing surface instability (i.e., two vs. one AIREX® balance pads). Higher (60 cm) compared to lower drop heights (≤ 40 cm) resulted in a DJ performance decline. In addition, increased sagittal plane knee joint kinematics as well as higher shank muscle activity were found during DJs from higher (60 cm) compared to lower drop heights (≤ 40 cm). Footwear properties almost exclusively affected frontal plane knee joint kinematics, indicating larger maximum knee valgus angles when performing DJs barefoot compared to shod. Between the different shoe properties (i.e., minimal vs. cushioned shoes), no significant differences during DJs were found at all. Only a few significant surface-drop height as well as surface-footwear interactions were found during DJs. They mainly indicated that drop height- and footwear-related effects are more pronounced during DJs on unstable compared to stable surfaces. In this regard, the maximum knee valgus angle was significantly greater when performing DJs from high drop heights (60 cm), but only on highly unstable surface. Further, braking and push-off times were significantly longer when performing DJs barefoot compared to shod, but only on unstable surface. Finally, analyses indicated no significant interactions with the gender factor. Conclusions: The findings of the present cumulative thesis indicate that stable rather than unstable surfaces as well as moderate (≤ 40 cm) rather than high (60 cm) drop heights provide sufficient stimuli to perform DJs. Furthermore, findings suggest that DJs on highly unstable surfaces (i.e., two AIREX® balance pads) from high drop heights (60 cm) as well as barefoot compared to shod seem to increase maximal knee valgus angle/stress by providing a more harmful DJ stimulus. Neuromuscular activation strategies appear to be modified by surface instability and drop height. However, leg muscle activity is only marginally effected by footwear and by the interactions of various external factors i.e., surface instability, drop height, footwear). Finally, gender did not significantly modulate the main or interaction effects of the observed external factors during DJs. N2 - Hintergrund und Ziele: Niederhochsprünge (Drop jumps [DJs]) sind wesentlicher Bestandteil vieler Sprungkrafttrainingsprogramme. Um sportartspezifisch zu trainieren und (natürliche) instabile Untergründe wie z. B. Sand, Gras oder Matten zu imitieren, werden DJs immer häufiger auch auf instabilen Unterlagen durchgeführt. Querschnittsstudien haben bereits die Effekte instabiler Unterlagen (z. B. AIREX® Balance Pad) auf DJs aufzeigen können. Da der menschliche Körper während der Ausführung von DJs auf instabilen Unterlagen jedoch noch mit weiteren (externen) Faktoren wie beispielsweise der Fallhöhe und dem Schuhwerk interagiert, ist eine kombinierte Betrachtung dieser Faktoren praxisrelevanter. Die vorliegende Doktorarbeit widmet sich daher den akuten Haupt- und Interaktionseffekten von Untergrundinstabilität, Fallhöhe, Schuhwerk und Geschlecht auf die Sprungleistung, die Kniegelenkskinematik sowie die Beinmuskelaktivierung während eines DJ. Methodik: An den Querschnittsschtudien nahmen gesunde männliche und weibliche Sportstudenten im Alter von 19 bis 26 Jahren teil. Während die Probanden DJs auf stabilien und (hochgradig) instabilen Unterlagen (d. h. ein oder zwei AIREX® Balance Pads), von verschiedenen Fallhöhen (d. h. 20cm, 40cm, 60cm) beziehungsweise mit unterschiedlichem Schuhwerk (d. h. barfuß, minimale Schuhe, gedämpfte Schuhe) durchführten, wurde die Sprungleistung, die Kniegelenkskinematik sowie die Beinmuskelaktivität erfasst. Ergebnisse: DJs auf instabilen im Vergleich zu stabilen Unterlagen führten zu einer signifikant geringeren Sprungleistung, einer geringeren maximalen Knieflexion sowie einer reduzierten Beinmuskelaktivit. Stieg die Untergrundsinstabilität (d. h. zwei vs. ein AIREX® Balance Pad), nahm die maximale Knieflexion und die Beinmuskelaktivität nochmals signifikant ab. Bei DJs von hohen (60 cm) im Vergleich zu moderaten Fallhöhen (≤ 40 cm) nahm die Sprungleistung ab, die maximale Knieflexion und Beinmuskelaktivität hingegen zu. Das Schuhwerk beeinflusste fast ausschließlich die Kniegelenkskinematik. Die Probanden valgisierten das Kniegelenk signifikant stärker, wenn sie barfuß und nicht mit Schuhen sprangen. Zwischen den zwei unterschiedlichen Schuhbedingungen konnte generell kein signifikanter Unterschied ermittelt werden. Die statistischen Analysen ergaben nur wenige signifikante Interaktionseffekte zwischen den untersuchten externen Faktoren. Diese zeigten relativ einheitlich, dass die fallhöhen- und schuhwerkspezifischen Effekte hauptsächlich bei DJs auf einer instabilen gegenüber einer stabilen Unterlage aufzufinden waren. So war der maximale Knievalguswinkel signifikant größer von einer hohen Fallhöhe (60 cm), aber nur auf (hochgradig) instabilen Unterlagen. Auch die Bodenkontaktzeit war signifikant länger, wenn barfuß anstatt mit Schuhen gesprungen wurde, aber nur auf instabilen Unterlagen. Das Geschlecht hatte keinen signifikanten Einfluss auf die akuten Haupt- und Interaktionseffekte der untersuchten externen Faktoren. Schlussfolgerung: Zusammenfassend zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass stabile gegenüber instabilen Unterlagen sowie moderate (≤ 40 cm) gegenüber hohen Fallhöhen (60 cm) bessere Voraussetzungen bei Sprungübungen zur Steigerung der Sprungleistung schaffen. Zudem scheinen DJs auf hochgradig instabilen Unterlagen von einer hohen Fallhöhe (60 cm) den maximalen Knievalguswinkel und damit auch den Stress für das vordere Kreuzband, zu erhöhen. Eine gesteigerte Knievalgisierung konnte auch beim barfüßigen Springen gegenüber DJs mit Schuhen aufgezeigt werden. Die Beinmuskelaktivität scheint in Abhängigkeit vom Untergrund und auch der Fallhöhe modifiziert zu werden, jedoch kaum für verschiedenes Schuhwerk. Das Geschlecht scheint die ermittelten Haupt- und Interaktionseffekte von Untergrundinstabilität, Fallhöhe und Schuhwerk nicht zusätzlich zu modulieren. KW - stretch-shortening cycle KW - electromyography KW - preactivation KW - short latency response KW - knee flexion angle KW - knee valgus angle KW - biomechanics KW - shoe KW - Dehnungsverkürzungszyklus KW - Elektromyografie KW - Voraktivierung KW - Reflexantwort KW - Knieflexion KW - Knievalgisierung KW - Biomechanik KW - Schuhe Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lesinski, Melanie A1 - Prieske, Olaf A1 - Beurskens, Rainer A1 - Behm, David George A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Effects of drop height and surface instability on neuromuscular activation during drop jumps JF - Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports N2 - The purpose of this study was to examine whether drop height-induced changes in leg muscle activity during drop jumps (DJ) are additionally modulated by surface condition. Twenty-four healthy participants (23.7 +/- 1.8years) performed DJs on a force plate on stable, unstable, and highly unstable surfaces using different drop heights (i.e., 20cm, 40cm, 60cm). Electromyographic (EMG) activity of soleus (SOL), gastrocnemius (GM), tibialis anterior (TA) muscles and coactivation of TA/SOL and TA/GM were analyzed for time intervals 100ms prior to ground contact (preactivation) and 30-60ms after ground contact [short latency response (SLR)]. Increasing drop heights resulted in progressively increased SOL and GM activity during preactivation and SLR (P<0.01; 1.01 d 5.34) while TA/SOL coactivation decreased (P<0.05; 0.51 d 3.01). Increasing surface instability produced decreased activities during preactivation (GM) and SLR (GM, SOL) (P<0.05; 1.36 d 4.30). Coactivation increased during SLR (P<0.05; 1.50 d 2.58). A significant drop heightxsurface interaction was observed for SOL during SLR. Lower SOL activity was found on unstable compared to stable surfaces for drop heights 40cm (P<0.05; 1.25 d 2.12). Findings revealed that instability-related changes in activity of selected leg muscles are minimally affected by drop height. KW - Stretch-shortening cycle KW - EMG KW - preactivation KW - short latency response Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12732 SN - 0905-7188 SN - 1600-0838 VL - 27 SP - 1090 EP - 1098 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -