Brain activation associated with a virtual decision-making task in children with and without developmental...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental condition impacting motor skills.
• Understanding the neural underpinnings of DCD is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate brain activation patterns in children with and without DCD during a virtual decision-making task.
• To compare neural activity and task performance between children with DCD and neurotypical controls.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan 22 children with DCD and 22 neurotypical controls.
• Participants completed a virtual task involving directional choices and avoidance maneuvers.
• Neural activity and behavioral responses were analyzed and compared between the two groups.

Main Results:

• Children with DCD exhibited heightened activation in visual cortices and the right middle frontal gyrus during the avoidance task.
• No significant differences in neural activation were observed during the person-direction task.
• Children with DCD demonstrated lower accuracy in the person-direction task, though response times were similar.

Conclusions:

• Children with DCD require more attentional resources for decision-making tasks compared to neurotypical children.
• Increased cognitive effort in DCD may be linked to underlying visuomotor processing deficits.