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Developmental changes in motor control: insights from bimanual coordination
Deborah J Serrien1, Michiel M Sovijärvi-Spapé1, Gita Rana1
1School of Psychology, University of Nottingham.
Insights
Children
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Manual dexterity develops progressively with age.
- Understanding developmental changes in motor control is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess unimanual and bimanual action performance in children aged 4-10.
- To investigate the influence of developmental age on motor skill acquisition.
- To explore the relationship between inattention/hyperactivity and bimanual coordination.
Main Methods:
- Trajectory measurements and bimanual coupling analysis were used.
- Children aged 4-10 years performed unimanual and bimanual tasks.
- The SWAN rating scale assessed inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity.
Main Results:
- Younger children showed lower performance in both unimanual and bimanual tasks compared to older children.
- Performance plateaued around age 8.
- SWAN scale scores correlated with bimanual behavior in 8-year-olds.
- Older children exhibited improved bimanual coordination through rebalanced hand performance.
Conclusions:
- Motor control systems integrate and refine with developmental age.
- Inattention and hyperactivity traits can predict intricate skill performance in children.
- Bimanual coordination development depends on unimanual processing changes and neural circuitry interplay.
Abstract:
Manual dexterity is known to gradually progress with developmental age. In this study, we evaluate the performance of unimanual and bimanual actions under perturbed and unperturbed conditions in children between 4 and 10 years of age. Behavior was assessed by means of trajectory measurements and degree of bimanual coupling. The results showed that the younger children performed less successfully than the older children in the unimanual and bimanual tasks, with a plateau occurring around the age of 8 years. The SWAN rating scale of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity correlated with bimanual behavior at this particular age, suggesting that these traits are predictors of intricate skill performance during a critical developmental phase when significant refinement of control mechanisms occurs. The data furthermore revealed that a rebalancing of the between-hand performance asymmetries enabled superior bimanual coordination patterns in the older children. This suggests that progress in bimanual behavior relies on essential changes in unimanual processing and points to a dynamic interplay of circuitry. Overall, the data highlight a progressive change and integration of control systems due to developmental age with behavioral performance being guided by the existing constraints.
