Multi-limb coordination and rhythmic variability under varying sensory availability conditions in children with DCD
Sam J Mackenzie1, Nancy Getchell, Katherine Deutsch
1Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences, 157 Human Performance Laboratory, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States.
Human Movement Science
|April 9, 2008
Summary
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) show increased motor variability during a clapping and marching task. Sensory input like vision and hearing did not significantly impact their performance, suggesting other factors influence coordination in DCD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) often exhibit sensory processing deficits.
- Previous research indicated DCD affects organizing motor tasks with auditory cues.
- Understanding sensory input's role in motor performance for DCD is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how sensory input (vision, hearing) affects motor coordination in children with DCD.
- To compare motor performance and variability in children with DCD, typically developing children, and adults.
- To examine the interface between sensory processing and motor performance in a gross motor task.
Main Methods:
- A clapping-in-phase-to-marching task was performed by 11 children with DCD, 7 typically developing (TD) children, and 10 adults.
- Participants completed the task under four sensory conditions: full vision/hearing, no vision, no hearing, and no vision/hearing.
- Measures included phasing variability, inter-movement intervals, coherence between limb movements, and approximate entropy.
Main Results:
- No significant condition effects were found for vision or hearing removal on task performance.
- Children with DCD demonstrated greater variability in clapping and footfall phasing compared to TD children and adults.
- Adults showed significantly greater movement coherence than both child groups; TD children were more coherent than DCD children.
Conclusions:
- Children with DCD can perform self-initiated gross motor tasks but exhibit increased variability.
- Visual and auditory information do not significantly stabilize temporal coordination in this specific task for children with DCD.
- The findings suggest that for this task, visual and auditory cues are not primary sources of information for temporal coordination.
