Investigating motor planning in children with DCD: Evidence from simple and complex grip-selection tasks (original) (raw)
Related papers
Motor planning with and without motor imagery in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
Acta Psychologica, 2019
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) demonstrate inefficient motor planning ability with a tendency to opt for non-optimal planning strategies. Motor imagery can provide an insight to this planning inefficiency, as it may be a strategy for improving motor planning and thereby motor performance for those with DCD. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of end-state-comfort (ESC) and the minimal rotation strategy using a grip selection task in children with DCD with and without motor imagery instructions. Boys with (n = 14) and without DCD (n = 18) aged 7-12 years completed one, two and three colour sequences of a grip selection (octagon) task. Two conditions were examined; a Motor Planning (MP) condition requiring only the performance of the task and a Motor Imagery and Planning (MIP) condition, which included an instruction to imagine performing the movement before execution. For the MP condition, children with DCD ended fewer trials in ESC for the one (p=0.001) and two colour (p=0.002) sequences and used a minimal rotation strategy more often than those without DCD. For the MIP condition, the DCD group significantly increased their use of the ESC strategy for the one colour sequences (p=0.014) while those without DCD improved for the two colour (p=0.008) sequences. ESC level of the DCD group on the MIP condition was similar to those without DCD at baseline for all colour sequences. Motor imagery shows potential as a strategy for improving motor planning in children with DCD. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Second-order motor planning difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder
Human Movement Science, 2021
The second-order motor planning ability of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has often been studied using tasks that require judgements of end-state comfort (ESC). In these studies, children may have chosen to prioritize other aspects of performance (e.g., a comfortable start-posture) over ESC while still being able to complete the goal of the task. This is a limitation that is inherent to previously used ESC paradigms. To avoid this in the present study, 52 children with and without DCD (aged 5-12 years) completed a task that requires second-order motor planning for its successful completion. In the hexagonal knob task, children were instructed to grasp and rotate a hexagonal knob. The rotation angle varied in size: 60 • , 120 • , 180 • , and 240 • rotations. Both the 180 • and 240 • rotation conditions required an uncomfortable starting posture for successful task completion. Results showed that children with DCD were less likely to adjust their initial grip in anticipation of the required rotation angle, resulting in more task failures compared with typically developing (TD) children. Based on this finding we conclude that children with DCD experience genuine second-order motor planning difficulties. Analysis of temporal outcomes, showed that initial reaction time increased with rotation angle, but this was less pronounced for children with DCD than for TD children. There were no between group differences in timing of subsequent events. These results suggest that the difficulties of children with DCD are related to the initial planning process, that is, before the start of the movement.
Human Movement Science
Children with impaired motor coordination (or Development Coordination Disorder-DCD) have difficulty with the predictive control of movements, evidenced by cross-sectional studies that show impaired motor imagery and action planning abilities. What remains unclear is whether this deficit in predictive control reflects immaturity of the motor system (a developmental delay) or some deviation from normal development (a disorder). To advance this discussion the present study used a longitudinal design to examine the development of motor imagery and action planning in children with DCD. Thirty children were included in the DCD group (aged 6-11 years) and age-and gender-matched to 30 controls. The DCD group had a mABC-2 score ≤ 16th percentile, the control group > 20th percentile. Motor imagery was assessed with the hand rotation task, action planning with a test for end-state comfort. Children participated in three measurements, with one year in between measurements. Results showed that children with DCD were slower and less accurate than their typically developing peers in all subsequent years but were able to improve their motor imagery ability over time. Furthermore, children with DCD showed less planning for ESC at the start of the present study, but were able to catch up with their peers during two-year follow up. These results exemplify that improvement of motor imagery and action planning ability is possible in DCD, and they lend theoretical support to the use of new training techniques that focus on training motor imagery to improve motor skills in children with DCD.
DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, 2020
DCD Developmental coordination disorder In 2019, international clinical practice recommendations on the definition, diagnosis, assessment , intervention, and psychosocial aspects of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) were published. Informing our understanding of mechanisms, recent systematic reviews have shown that children with DCD have difficulties with the predictive control of movements, including aspects of motor planning, which is expressed as the internal modeling deficit hypothesis. This motor control deficit is most evident when the spatial and temporal demands of a task increase. An increasing number of empirical studies suggest that motor planning problems can be remediated through training based on one or a combination of motor imagery and action observation. In this review, we show evidence of motor planning problems in children with DCD and show that task demands or complexity affects its appearance. Implications of these findings are treatments based on motor imagery and action observation to remediate motor planning issues. The article concludes with recommendations for future research. The latest edition of the international clinical recommendations of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) were published in 2019. 1 Compared with earlier editions, there has been a noticeable shift in the conceptualization of DCD as a pure motor syndrome to a disorder characterized by more complex motor-cognitive issues. Research has shown deficits across different aspects of motor control and motor learning, as well as cognitive control (executive function). Accordingly, the 2019 guidelines recommended that both motor and non-motor aspects of functioning for an individual child with DCD be considered when setting up an intervention (recommendation 21). In this paper we first provide an overview of current research on motor planning in children with DCD, noting in particular the effect of task demands or complexity on the expression of planning deficits. In the second part we discuss recent evidence on the use of motor imagery and action observation (action observation) for remediation of these motor problems. MOTOR PLANNING AND TASK COMPLEXITY Sound motor planning is important for a wide variety of daily activities, such as picking up and drinking from a cup, opening a door, or navigating through a crowded room. While many such actions have no serious consequences when planning goes awry, other situations can be far more hazardous, such as crossing a busy street. 2 This situation poses a complex planning problem, with cars approaching from left and right at different closing speeds, and in countries like the Netherlands, cyclists crossing unpredictably. In these complex environments it is of utmost importance that planning is performed with great precision and well before the action is initiated. Put simply , proper (motor) planning is essential for the safe and efficient performance of many activities in daily life. In a recent systematic review of experimental research on mechanisms of DCD, Wilson et al. 3 identified sustained growth of work, with a total of 106 studies published between September 2011 and September 2017. On the strength of good methodological quality, the review clearly showed that the expression of motor control deficits was dependent on the nature of the tasks and their complexity. That is, motor problems were most evident under conditions of high task complexity (e.g. dual-tasks, tasks demanding more precision, tasks performed under tight temporal constraints and/or under restricted visual conditions). Moreover, there was converging evidence to support deficits in the predictive control of movements, as poor anticipatory planning was a common denominator in the many studies. Motor control theories state that when an action is planned, the motor parameters related to the action such as trajectory, velocity, force, and required precision are represented as internal or feedforward models. 4,5 Internal models contribute to smooth, efficient, and accurate motor performance, reducing the necessity for the motor system to rely on slower forms of feedback-based control. According to the internal modeling deficit hypothesis, children
British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953), 2016
Recent systematic reviews (Wilson et al., 2013, Dev. Med. Child Neurol., 55, 217; Adams et al., 2014, Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 47C, 225) suggest that a common underlying problem in developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is the internal modelling deficit. The study presented here is the first to test this hypothesis using a within-subject design, assessing motor imagery, action planning, and rapid online control (ROC) in a sample of children screened rigorously for DCD. Participants were 66 children; 33 children (26 boys and seven girls) aged 6-11 years in the DCD group and 33 controls (gender and age matched). Motor imagery was assessed with the hand rotation task (HRT), action planning with an end-state comfort effect test, and ROC with the double-step pointing task. Results showed that children with DCD were slower and less accurate than controls in the HRT. Reduced forward planning for comfortable end-state was also shown in DCD. Finally, no group differences were found on th...
British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953), 2016
Recent systematic reviews (Wilson et al., 2013, Dev. Med. Child Neurol., 55, 217; Adams et al., 2014, Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 47C, 225) suggest that a common underlying problem in developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is the internal modelling deficit. The study presented here is the first to test this hypothesis using a within-subject design, assessing motor imagery, action planning, and rapid online control (ROC) in a sample of children screened rigorously for DCD. Participants were 66 children; 33 children (26 boys and seven girls) aged 6-11 years in the DCD group and 33 controls (gender and age matched). Motor imagery was assessed with the hand rotation task (HRT), action planning with an end-state comfort effect test, and ROC with the double-step pointing task. Results showed that children with DCD were slower and less accurate than controls in the HRT. Reduced forward planning for comfortable end-state was also shown in DCD. Finally, no group differences were found on th...
Human movement science, 2013
When generating a movement adults favour grasps which start the body in an uncomfortable position if they end in a comfortable position (the end-state-comfort effects). In contrast, children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) select grasps which require little initial hand rotation even though they result in an uncomfortable end position. The current study considered grip selection of individuals with DCD when asked to make simple one step movements and when making more complex multi-staged movements. Adults with DCD (N=17, mean age 24:09, SD age=52 months) and children with DCD (N=20, mean age 9:00, SD age=20 months) and age and gender matched controls rotated a disc so an arrow pointed toward a specific target(s). Task complexity was increased by increasing the number of targets from 1 to 3. Planning for end-state-comfort was seen in all groups albeit to a lesser extent in children versus adults. The children with DCD showed fewer grips for end-state-comfort compared to their peers and this was explained by a propensity to select minimal initial rotation grasps. This result was mirrored in adults with DCD but only for the longest movement sequence. These results suggest some changes in ability from childhood to adulthood in individuals with DCD.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2021
The end-state comfort (ESC) effect refers to the consistent tendency of healthy adults to end their movements in a comfortable end posture. In children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD), the results of studies focusing on ESC planning have been inconclusive, which is likely to be due to differences in task constraints. The present pilot study focused on the question whether children with and without DCD were able to change their planning strategy and were more likely to plan for ESC when demanded by complex object manipulations at the end of a task. To this end, we examined ESC planning in 18 children with and without DCD (aged 5-11 years) using the previously used sword-task and the newly developed hammer-task. In the sword-task, children had to insert a sword in a wooden block, which could be relatively easily completed with an uncomfortable end-posture. In the hammer-task, children had to strike down a nail in a wooden pounding bench, which required additional force and speed demands, making it relatively difficult to complete the movement with an uncomfortable end-posture. In line with our hypothesis, the results demonstrated that children with and without DCD were more likely to plan for ESC on the hammer-task compared with the sword-task. Thus, while children with and without DCD show inconsistent ESC planning on many previously used tasks, the present pilot study shows that many of them are able to take into account the end-state of their movements if demanded by task constraints.
A test of motor (not executive) planning in developmental coordination disorder and autism.
2010
Abstract 1. Grip selection tasks have been used to test “planning” in both autism and developmental coordination disorder (DCD). We differentiate between motor and executive planning and present a modified motor planning task. Participants grasped a cylinder in 1 of 2 orientations before turning it clockwise or anticlockwise. The rotation resulted in a comfortable final posture at the cost of a harder initial reaching action on 50% of trials.
Abnormalities of imagined motor sequences in children with developmental coordination disorder
Neuropsychologia, 1999
The chronometry of real and imagined movements was investigated in a group of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and a group of matched controls. The visually-guided pointing task was used to investigate the speed for accuracy trade-os that occur as target size is varied for both real and imagined performance. In the control group, the speed for accuracy trade-o for both real and imagined performance conformed to Fitts' law. In the DCD group only real movements conformed to Fitts' law. This pattern of performance suggests that children with DCD have an impairment in the ability to generate internal representations of volitional movements. This may re¯ect part of a general impairment in the processing of eerence copy in DCD. #