A Perception-Action Approach to Understanding Typical and Atypical Motor Development

Area of Science:

• Motor Control and Development
• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Motor development is complex, involving the interplay between perception and action.
• Understanding typical and atypical motor development, such as in developmental coordination disorder (DCD), requires robust theoretical frameworks.
• Dynamical systems and control-theoretic approaches provide a foundation for studying motor behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if the perception-action system across time can model motor development.
• To investigate if studying the perception-action system in children with DCD can inform understanding of atypical motor development.
• To explore the role of sensory information in motor system perturbations.

Main Methods:

• Employed a dynamical systems and control-theoretic framework.
• Used perturbation strategies: altering static sensory information and enhancing dynamic sensory information.
• Examined effects on posture, rhythmic interlimb coordination, and goal-directed reaching/drawing.

Main Results:

• Perturbing sensory systems provides insights into motor system responses.
• Specific sensory perturbation strategies reveal mechanisms underlying motor control.
• Findings support the perception-action coupling as a fundamental aspect of motor development.

Conclusions:

• The perception-action system is a crucial mechanism for motor development across the lifespan.
• Studying perception-action coupling offers valuable insights into both typical and atypical motor development, including DCD.
• Further research into the adaptive changes in perception-action coupling is warranted.