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Development of adaptive motor behaviour in typically developing infants

K R Heineman1, K J Middelburg, M Hadders-Algra

  • 1Department of Paediatrics - Developmental Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|January 7, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Infants reliably develop adaptive motor behaviors starting around 6 months, with noticeable transitions peaking between 8 and 15 months. These crucial motor skills emerge gradually and are specific to each function.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Motor Control
  • Infant Motor Development

Background:

  • Infants progressively acquire motor skills during development.
  • Selecting adaptive motor strategies is key to motor repertoire expansion.
  • Understanding the emergence of adaptive motility is crucial for developmental assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reliably assess the presence of adaptive motor behavior in infants.
  • To identify the age of onset for clinically observable transitions to adaptive motility.
  • To examine specific motor functions including abdominal progression, sitting, reaching, and grasping.

Main Methods:

  • A reliability study involved 38 assessments of infants aged 4-18 months.
  • A longitudinal study included 30 typically developing infants with nine assessments from 3-18 months.
  • Adaptive motor strategies were scored using standardized video-recordings of spontaneous motor behavior.

Main Results:

  • Good intra- and interobserver reliability was achieved.
  • Clinically observable transitions to adaptive motor selection began around 6 months.
  • These transitions peaked between 8 and 15 months, developing gradually and varying by motor function.

Conclusions:

  • Adaptive motor behavior in infants can be reliably observed.
  • Gradual development of adaptive motor behavior begins around 6 months at function-specific ages.
  • Neurophysiologic changes precede clinically observed adaptive motor transitions.
Abstract

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