Elders, V., Sheehan, S., Wilson, A.D. et al. (3 more authors) (2010) Head–torso–hand coordination in children with and without developmental coordination disorder. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 52 (3). pp. 238-243. ISSN 1469-8749
Abstract
AIM: This study investigated the nature of coordination and control problems in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
METHOD: Seven adults (two males, five females, age range 20–28y; mean 23y, SD 2y 8mo) and eight children with DCD (six males, two females, age range 7–9y; mean 8y, SD 8mo), and 10 without DCD (seven males, three females, age range 7–9y; mean 8y, SD 7mo) sat in a swivel chair and looked at or pointed to targets. Optoelectronic apparatus recorded head, torso, and hand movements, and the spatial and temporal characteristics of the movements were computed.
RESULTS: Head movement times were longer (p<0.05) in children with DCD than in the comparison group, even in the looking task, suggesting that these children experience problems at the lowest level of coordination (the coupling of synergistic muscle groups within a single degree of freedom). Increasing the task demands with the pointing condition affected the performance of children with DCD to a much greater extent than the other groups, most noticeably in key feedforward kinematic landmarks. Temporal coordination data indicated that all three groups attempted to produce similar movement patterns to each other, but that the children with DCD were much less successful than age-matched children in the comparison group.
INTERPRETATION: Children with DCD have difficulty coordinating and controlling single degree-of-freedom movements; this problem makes more complex tasks disproportionately difficult for them. Quantitative analysis of kinematics provides key insights into the nature of the problems faced by children with DCD.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Copyright © 2009 Mac Keith Press. This is an author produced version of a paper accepted for publcation in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archving policy. The definitive version is available at http://interscience.wiley.com/ |
Keywords: | movement, coordination, eye-hand, DCD, neurodevelopmental |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > Institute of Molecular Medicine (LIMM) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) > Cognitive Psychology (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > Institute of Molecular Medicine (LIMM) (Leeds) > Section of Musculoskeletal Disease (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology (Leeds) > Cardiovascular and Sports Sciences Group (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Repository Officer |
Date Deposited: | 02 Jul 2009 09:47 |
Last Modified: | 16 Sep 2016 13:47 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03347.x |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | John Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03347.x |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:8759 |