Typical and atypical (cerebral palsy) development of unimanual and bimanual grasp planning
Loes Janssen1, Bert Steenbergen
1Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. l.janssen@donders.ru.nl
Insights
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) show delayed motor planning development compared to peers. However, bimanual tasks reveal improved motor planning in their more affected arm, offering intervention potential.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Motor planning is crucial for coordinated movements.
- Cerebral palsy (CP) often involves motor deficits, impacting planning.
- Understanding motor planning development in CP is essential for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate motor planning development in children with and without CP.
- To determine if bimanual tasks facilitate motor planning in children with CP.
Main Methods:
- 13 children with CP and 24 typically developing children (7-12 years) performed unimanual and bimanual motor planning tasks.
- Participants grasped and transported vertical cylinders to platforms of varying heights.
- Grasp height selection was analyzed as a measure of motor planning anticipation.
Main Results:
- Typically developing children demonstrated age-dependent grasp height anticipation in unimanual tasks.
- Children with CP showed no significant grasp height effect or age-related changes in unimanual tasks.
- In bimanual tasks, the more affected hand of children with CP anticipated grasp height, unlike the less affected hand.
Conclusions:
- Motor planning development appears compromised or delayed in children with CP compared to typically developing peers.
- Bimanual tasks facilitate motor planning in the more affected limb of children with CP.
- The facilitated planning in bimanual tasks presents a promising avenue for therapeutic interventions in CP.
Abstract:
In the present study we tested 13 children with cerebral palsy (CP) and 24 typically developing children (7-12 years old) in a unimanual and bimanual motor planning task. We focused on two research questions: (1) How does motor planning develop in children with and without CP? and (2) Is motor planning facilitated when the task is performed with both hands? Participants had to grasp one or two vertical oriented cylinder(s) and transport it/them to a platform that had different heights. As a measure of motor planning, we registered the height at which participants grasped the cylinder. Here, anticipation of grasp height upon the height of the upcoming target(s) is reflective of proper forward motor planning as it leads to a comfortable posture at the end of the task. In the unimanual task the typically developing children showed a significant grasp height effect, which increased with age. In contrast, no grasp height effect, or age related changes therein were found for the children with CP, suggesting a compromised development of motor planning in these children. Interestingly, when children had to transport one cylinder to a high shelf and one cylinder to a low shelf, the more affected hand of the CP children clearly anticipated the grasp height to the upcoming target height. The less affected hand did not show such anticipation. Taken collectively, these findings suggest a delayed or compromised development of motor planning in children with CP compared to typically developing children. At the same time, the facilitated motor planning of the more affected arm in the bimanual task offers a valuable entry point for intervention to improve motor planning in CP.
