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Diminished Performance and Learning of a Novel Visuomotor Skill in Children Born Preterm
Samuel T Nemanich1, Cassandra Kemmel-Bartletti1, Md Raihan Mia2
1Department of Occupational Therapy, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Insights
Children born preterm show deficits in motor skills, including bimanual coordination. However, they can learn new visuomotor tasks, indicating potential for motor development despite early challenges.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Motor control
- Pediatric neurology
Background:
- Premature birth impacts long-term sensory, motor, and cognitive development.
- Motor learning and skill acquisition in preterm populations are not well understood.
- Bimanual movements, crucial for daily activities, may be disproportionately affected in preterm children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare unimanual and bimanual motor skill learning in preterm versus term-born children.
- To characterize the acquisition and retention of novel visuomotor skills in these groups.
- To investigate the impact of preterm birth on motor learning trajectories.
Main Methods:
- Fifty-five children (14 preterm), aged 5-8 years, performed unimanual and bimanual visuomotor learning tasks on a tablet.
- Tasks involved initial practice, 24-hour retention, and 7-day retention sessions.
- Motor performance was assessed by speed (completion time) and accuracy (movement path length).
Main Results:
- Preterm children demonstrated reduced speed and accuracy in both unimanual and bimanual tasks compared to term-born peers.
- All children performed better on the unimanual task.
- Motor skill retention was comparable between preterm and term-born groups and across task types.
Conclusions:
- Preterm children exhibit impaired unimanual and bimanual motor skills but retain the capacity for new visuomotor learning.
- Findings highlight varied motor development trajectories in preterm children, with potential nuances in skill retention.
- This study provides critical insights into the motor learning capabilities of children born preterm.
Abstract:
Premature birth has long-term effects on sensory, motor, and cognitive development. Despite evidence of impaired motor function in young children born preterm, there is less known about motor learning and the characterization of the acquisition and retention of motor skills in this population. Furthermore, bimanual movements, important for performing everyday activities, may be preferentially affected in preterm children. In this study, we compared unimanual and bimanual motor skill learning in young children born preterm compared to children born at term age. Unimanual and bimanual de novo visuomotor learning tasks were implemented on a computerized tablet (Apple iPad). Fifty-five participants (N = 14 preterm), corrected age 5-8 years, completed three testing sessions: initial practice (72 practice attempts), 24-h retention (24 practice attempts), and 7-day retention (24 practice attempts). Speed (completion time) and accuracy (movement path length) characterized motor performance. Learning was determined by comparing performance at the end of initial practice to each retention test. Overall, preterm children exhibited reduced speed and accuracy on both tasks compared to term-born children. All children performed better on the unimanual version of the task. Retention was similar between groups and tasks. Biological age had a small, nonlinear relationship with performance. These results confirm that preterm children have impaired unimanual and bimanual skills but are capable of learning new visuomotor patterns, with potential differences in skill retention. This evidence provides insight into the varied trajectories of motor development of preterm children.
