Auditory and visual information do not affect self-paced bilateral finger tapping in children with DCD
Renuka Roche1, Anna Maria Wilms-Floet, Jane E Clark
1Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States.
Insights
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) exhibit greater variability in finger tapping timing. This study found DCD impacts intrinsic motor control, showing less accuracy and more variability regardless of sensory feedback.
Area of Science:
- Motor control research
- Neurodevelopmental disorders
- Human movement science
Background:
- Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is characterized by motor skill deficits.
- Children with DCD often show difficulties with timing and coordination.
- Understanding intrinsic motor control is crucial for DCD interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate intrinsic finger tapping coordination in children with DCD.
- To compare motor timing and variability in children with and without DCD, and adults.
- To assess the impact of sensory feedback (vision, audition) on tapping performance.
Main Methods:
- Participants: 10 children with DCD, 10 typically developing (TD) children, 10 adults.
- Task: Self-selected anti-phase finger tapping under four sensory conditions (full, vision-only, audition-only, none).
- Measures: Intertap interval (ITI), ITI variability, relative phasing (RP), RP variability.
Main Results:
- Children with DCD showed similar tapping frequency but greater ITI and RP variability than TD children and adults.
- Sensory conditions (vision, audition) did not significantly alter performance across groups.
- DCD group demonstrated intrinsic deficits in tapping accuracy and coordination consistency.
Conclusions:
- Visual and auditory feedback are not primary drivers for self-selected bilateral finger tapping.
- Children with DCD possess intrinsic limitations in motor timing accuracy and coordination.
- Findings highlight inherent motor control challenges in DCD, independent of external sensory cues.
Abstract:
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are more variable in timing their fingers to an external cue. In this study, we investigated the intrinsic coordination properties of self-selected anti-phase finger tapping with and without vision and audition in children with and without DCD and compared their performance to that of adults. Ten children with DCD (Mean age=7.12±0.3 years), 10 age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) children, and 10 adults participated in this study. Participants tapped their fingers in anti-phase at a self-selected speed under four different sensory conditions: (1) with vision and audition, (2) with vision but no audition, (3) with audition but no vision, and (4) without vision and audition. We assessed intertap interval (ITI), variability of ITI, mean relative phasing (RP) between the fingers and the variability in RP. Children with DCD adopted a similar mean frequency, but were less accurate and more variable than the other groups. The different sensory conditions did not affect performance in any of the groups. We conclude that visual and auditory feedback of tapping are not salient information sources for bilateral self-selected tapping and that children with DCD are intrinsically less accurate and more variable in their tapping frequency and coordination.
