Dynamics of postural control in the child with Down syndrome
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Published on: December 11, 2013
Insights
Children with Down syndrome exhibit slower automatic postural responses, indicating higher-level neural control deficits, not hypotonia, affecting their stance balance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Children with Down syndrome often display motor deficiencies.
- The automatic postural control system is crucial for maintaining stance balance.
- Understanding neural control deficits is key to addressing motor impairments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural control processes in stance balance for children with Down syndrome.
- To determine if motor deficiencies in Down syndrome are linked to automatic postural control system deficits.
- To compare balance control mechanisms between typically developing children and those with Down syndrome.
Main Methods:
- Electromyograms (EMG) of leg muscles were measured.
- Platform displacements were used to perturb stance.
- Children with Down syndrome and typically developing children (ages 1-3 and 4-6 years) were compared.
Main Results:
- Automatic muscle responses were directionally specific in both groups, but more variable in children with Down syndrome.
- Children with Down syndrome did not show adaptive attenuation of responses to changing task conditions.
- Onset latencies of automatic postural responses were significantly slower in children with Down syndrome compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Balance problems in children with Down syndrome stem from higher-level postural mechanism defects, not hypotonia.
- The findings suggest specific neural pathway impairments affecting automatic postural control in Down syndrome.
- Early identification of these higher-level deficits can inform targeted interventions for balance improvement.
Abstract:
We examined the development of neural control processes underlying stance balance in both developmentally normal children and children with Down syndrome to test the hypothesis that motor deficiencies in children with Down syndrome are associated with deficits within the automatic postural control system. We compared children with Down syndrome and developmentally normal children in two age groups (1-3 and 4-6 years) by using displacements of a platform and measuring electromyograms from leg muscles. The automatic muscle response pattern in both normal children and children with Down syndrome were directionally specific, although the pattern were more variable than in adults. Responses in children with Down syndrome showed no adaptive attenuation to changing task conditions. Onset latencies of responses in children with Down syndrome were significantly slower than in normal children. Presence of the monosynaptic reflex during platform perturbations at normal latencies suggests that balance problems in children with Down syndrome do not result from hypotonia, which researchers have defined as decreased segmental motoneuron pool excitability and pathology of stretch reflex mechanisms, but rather result from defects within higher level postural mechanisms.
