Jean-Michel Albaret

Relationship Between Visual-Motor Integration, Eye-Hand Coordination, and Quality of Handwriting

If the influence of visual-motor integration (copying forms) on the quality of handwriting has been widely investigated, the influence of eye-hand coordination (tracing item) has been less well analyzed. The Concise Assessment Scale for Childrens Handwriting (BHK), the Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP-2), and the section “Manual Dexterity” of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) were administered to a group of second grade children (N  =  75; 8.1-year-olds). The association of visual-motor integration and eye-hand coordination are predictive of the quality of handwriting (p < . 001). These two skills should be taken into consideration when children are referred to occupational therapy for difficulties in handwriting.

A study of EEG coherence in DCD children during motor synchronization task

This paper investigates the hypothesis that the coordination difficulties of DCD children are associated with an increased coherence in the cortical motor regions, which persists with age. Forty-eight children participated in the study (24 DCD and 24 Controls). Their ages ranged from 8 to 13 years, divided into three groups (8-9, 10-11, and 12-13 years old). Children were required to perform finger flexion or extension either in synchrony or in syncopation with a rhythmic metronome, while a 32-channel EEG was recorded. Along with stability measures of motor performance, we analyzed the spectral EEG coherence between intrahemispheric (left frontal/left central; left central/left parietal) and interhemispheric (left central/right central) sites. Spectral coherence assesses functional coupling between distant areas of the brain. Two frequency bands related to sensorimotor activation were chosen: alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (12-30 Hz). The synchrony task was chosen as a rest condition against which the two syncopation conditions at 0.5 Hz and 1.3 Hz were contrasted. For intrahemispheric comparison, 8-9-year-old DCD children showed that coherence between fronto-central regions increased for both rhythms and conditions, as compared to controls. No difference was found for interhemispheric comparisons. As frontal sites are related to motor planning, our results suggest that youngest DCD children were forced to maintain a high level of pre-programming to compensate for the difficulties caused by the perceptual-motor requirements of the task in light of their coordination disorder.

Covariation of attentional cost and stability provides further evidence for two routes to learning new coordination patterns

This study investigated how learning a new bimanual coordination pattern affects the attentional resources allotted by the CNS to maintain it throughout the acquisition process. The repertoire of the existing stable coordination patterns was individually evaluated before and after practice in order to detect expected changes with learning. Bistable participants, who initially exhibited stable and accurate coordination patterns at 0 degrees and 180 degrees of relative phase, practiced a 90 degrees pattern, whereas multistable participants, who already mastered the 90 degrees pattern, practiced 135 degrees pattern instead. In a typical dual-task paradigm, all participants had to simultaneously perform a reaction time task that assessed the associated attentional cost. Beyond an overall increase in accuracy, the results revealed a significant decrease in the attentional cost for bistable participants, accompanying the stabilization of the 90 degrees pattern with learning, but not for multistable participants, as the 135 degrees pattern barely stabilized. Pattern stability and attentional cost co-evolve during learning and the process follows two different routes depending on the interplay between the task and the learners coordination abilities before practice.

Developmental changes in lateralized inhibition of symmetric movements in children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

The present study investigates developmental changes in selective inhibition of symmetric movements with a lateralized switching task from bimanual to unimanual tapping in typically developing (TD) children and with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) from 7 to 10 years old. Twelve right-handed TD children and twelve gender-matched children with DCD and probable DCD produce a motor switching task in which they have (1) to synchronize with the beat of an auditory metronome to produce bimanual symmetrical tapping and (2) to selectively inhibit their left fingers tapping while continuing their right fingers tapping and conversely. We assess (1) the development of the capacity to inhibit the stopping finger (number of supplementary taps after the stopping instruction) and (2) the development of the capacity to maintain the continuing finger (changes in the mean tempo and its variability for the continuing fingers tapping) and (3) the evolution of performance through trials. Results indicate that (1) TD children present an age-related increase in the capacity to inhibit and to maintain the left fingers tapping, (2) DCD exhibits persistent difficulties to inhibit the left fingers tapping, and (3) both groups improve their capacity to inhibit the left fingers movements through trials. In conclusion, the lateralized switching task provides a simple and fine tool to reveal differences in selective inhibition of symmetric movements in TD children and children with DCD. More theoretically, the specific improvement in selective inhibition of the left finger suggests a progressive development of inter-hemispheric communication during typical development that is absent or delayed in children with DCD.

Preservation of perceptual integration improves temporal stability of bimanual coordination in the elderly: An evidence of age-related brain plasticity

Despite the apparent age-related decline in perceptual-motor performance, recent studies suggest that the elderly people can improve their reaction time when relevant sensory information are available. However, little is known about which sensory information may improve motor behaviour itself. Using a synchronization task, the present study investigates how visual and/or auditory stimulations could increase accuracy and stability of three bimanual coordination modes produced by elderly and young adults. Neurophysiological activations are recorded with ElectroEncephaloGraphy (EEG) to explore neural mechanisms underlying behavioural effects. Results reveal that the elderly stabilize all coordination modes when auditory or audio-visual stimulations are available, compared to visual stimulation alone. This suggests that auditory stimulations are sufficient to improve temporal stability of rhythmic coordination, even more in the elderly. This behavioural effect is primarily associated with increased attentional and sensorimotor-related neural activations in the elderly but similar perceptual-related activations in elderly and young adults. This suggests that, despite a degradation of attentional and sensorimotor neural processes, perceptual integration of auditory stimulations is preserved in the elderly. These results suggest that perceptual-related brain plasticity is, at least partially, conserved in normal aging.

Efficacy of an Explicit Handwriting Program

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an explicit handwriting program introduced during the first grade of elementary school. Grade 1 children (N = 23) with an age range of 6.1 to 7.4 yr. (15 girls, 8 boys) were administered an additional handwriting program of two weekly sessions of 45 min. over six weeks. Another group of 19 Grade 1 children (11 girls, 8 boys) received only the regular handwriting program of one weekly session. The Concise Assessment Scale for Childrens Handwriting was administered to measure the changes in quality and speed of handwriting. The children given the explicit program showed better quality and speed of handwriting than did the control group. Their handwriting was more regular, with fewer ambiguous letters and fewer incorrect relative heights.

Motor impairment in children with Neurofibromatosis type 1: Effect of the comorbidity with language disorders.

BACKGROUND There is a body of evidence demonstrating comorbidity of motor and cognitive deficit in «idiopathic» developmental disorders. These associations are also found in developmental disorders secondary to monogenic disorders as in Neurofibromatosis type 1 for which the principal complication during childhood is learning disabilities. The comparison of motor impairment between developmental disorders either idiopathic or secondary as in NF1 could help us to better understand the cause of the combined language/motor deficit in these populations. AIM The aim of this current study was to investigate motor impairment in children with NF1 for which oral language had been specified and then to compare the motors skills of the NF1 group to motor performance of children with Specific Language Disorder (SLD). METHOD Two groups of 49 children between 5 and 12years old were included and compared, the NF1 group and the SLD (Specific Language Disorder) group. Each child completed evaluation involving cognitive, language and motor assessment. RESULTS In NF1 group, motor impairment was more frequent and more severe and concerned specifically balance rather than manual dexterity or ball skills, compared to a group of children with SLD. This motor impairment was independent of language status in the NF1 group. CONCLUSIONS These results as well as other studies on the same topic could suggest that in NF1 children, fine motor skills impairment would be dependent on the existence of comorbidity with language disorders. Also, that gross motor skills impairment, and more precisely the balance deficit would be characteristic of NF1. This issue encourages studies of procedural learning that can involve the fronto-striatal or the fronto-cerebellar loops according to the type of motor tasks and the stage of learning.

Trouble de l’acquisition de la coordination : bases neurobiologiques et aspects neurophysiologiques

Among psychomotor disorders in children, developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is characterized by a motor skill impairment that interferes with psychomotor development, academic performance and activities of daily living, despite normal intelligence. The main behavioural phenomena (lack of postural control, coordination and motor learning) suggest involvement of cerebellum, basal ganglia and frontal and parietal lobes. Our studies on a synchronisation/syncopation task, with EEG recording (coherence analysis and evoked potential), show that DCD children (8 to 12 years old) exhibit major interindividual variability and do not improve performance with repetition. In younger DCD children, an increase of coherence between fronto-central regions was reported, and, for evoked potential, an increase of motor preparation component and a N100 latency longer than control children. These findings support the idea of a general synchronization disorder in DCD children and furnish elements allowing a better understanding of intra- and interindividual variability.

Neuropsychological status of French children with developmental dyslexia and/or developmental coordination disorder: Are both necessarily worse than one?

ABSTRACT Developmental dyslexia (DD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) co-occur frequently, raising the underlying question of shared etiological bases. We investigated the cognitive profile of children with DD, children with DCD, and children with the dual association (DD + DCD) to determine the inherent characteristics of each disorder and explore the possible additional impact of co-morbidity on intellectual, attentional, and psychosocial functioning. The participants were 8- to 12-year-olds (20 DD, 22 DCD, and 23 DD + DCD). Cognitive abilities were assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and the Continuous Performance Test – Second Edition (CPT-II) and behavioral impairments were evaluated by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). No differences were found between the three groups on attention testing (CPT-II) or psychosocial characteristics (CBCL), but a higher percentage of DD + DCD children had pathological scores on psychosocial scales. Significant between-group differences were observed on Processing Speed Index scores and the block design and symbol search subtests, where DD children fared better than DCD children. No significant differences were evident between the co-morbid vs. the pure groups. Our results clearly show significant differences between children with DD only and children with DCD only. In particular, visuo-spatial disabilities and heterogeneity of intellectual profile seem to be good markers of DCD. However, it should be noted that despite these distinct and separate characteristics, a common cognitive profile (weaknesses and strengths) is likely shared by both neurodevelopmental disorders. Surprisingly, concerning co-morbidity, DD + DCD association is not associated with a decrease in intellectual or attentional capacities.

A parsimonious oscillatory model of handwriting

We propose an oscillatory model that is theoretically parsimonious, empirically efficient and biologically plausible. Building on Hollerbach’s (Biol Cybern 39:139–156, 1981) model, our Parsimonious Oscillatory Model of Handwriting (POMH) overcomes the latter’s main shortcomings by making it possible to extract its parameters from the trace itself and by reinstating symmetry between the