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Postural adaptations to a suprapostural memory task among children with and without developmental coordination
Fu-Chen Chen1, Chia-Liang Tsai, Thomas A Stoffregen
1Affordance Perception and Action Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
|September 3, 2011
Summary
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) show different postural responses during memory tasks compared to typically developing peers. DCD group maintained higher postural sway, unlike controls, especially under high cognitive load.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) impacts motor skills and can affect cognitive-motor integration.
- Postural control is crucial for daily activities and can be influenced by cognitive demands.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how cognitive load affects postural control in children with DCD compared to typically developing children.
- To analyze biomechanical responses (postural motion) during a suprapostural memory task.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 76 children (9-10 years old), divided into DCD and typically developing groups (38 each).
- Children performed a digital memory task at low and high cognitive demand levels.
- Head and torso positional variability (postural sway) were measured as biomechanical responses.
Main Results:
- Both groups reduced postural motion with increased task difficulty, but DCD group maintained significantly higher sway.
- Typically developing children significantly decreased postural motion in high-difficulty conditions, unlike the DCD group.
- Children with DCD exhibited greater postural instability than controls.
Conclusions:
- Postural responses to cognitive demands differ between children with DCD and typically developing children.
- Cognitive-motor integration in postural control may be impaired in DCD.
- Findings highlight potential differences in attention and executive function impacting motor control in DCD.
