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Short report presenting preliminary evidence of impaired corticomuscular coherence in an individual with
J V V Parr1, E Hodson-Tole2, G Wood1
1Research Centre for Musculoskeletal Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
Background:
It has been suggested that developmental coordination disorder (DCD) could be caused by a 'dysconnection' in brain and skeletal muscle communication. To date no previous work has examined the integrity of this neuromuscular process in individuals with DCD.
Aims:
To conduct a feasibility study for measuring functional connectivity of the brain and muscle in an individual with DCD using corticomuscular coherence (CMC).
Methods And Procedures:
An individual with DCD and a typically developing (TD) participant completed a series of sustained 5-second voluntary isometric hand contractions (15 ± 5 % MVC) on a handheld dynamometer under both single and dual task (i.e., counting backwards) conditions. EEG, EMG and force data were collected.
Outcomes And Results:
The participant with DCD displayed poorer force steadiness and higher mental demand compared to the TD participant and in dual task conditions. The TD participant displayed a commonly observed pattern of CMC that was highly localised over the contralateral hand area, the DCD participant displayed a less localised CMC across cortical regions.
Conclusions And Implications:
These findings support the feasibility of measuring CMC in DCD populations and offer some, albeit preliminary, evidence of impaired communication between the brain and muscles in these individuals.
