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Multisensory adaptation of spatial-to-motor transformations in children with developmental coordination disorder

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Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that adaptation to a visuomotor distortion systematically influenced movements to auditory targets in adults and typically developing (TD) children, suggesting that the adaptation of spatial-to-motor transformations for reaching movements is multisensory (i.e., generalizable across sensory modalities). The multisensory characteristics of these transformations in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have not been examined. Given that previous research has demonstrated that children with DCD have deficits in sensorimotor integration, these children may also have impairments in the formation of multisensory spatial-to-motor transformations for target-directed arm movements. To investigate this hypothesis, children with and without DCD executed discrete arm movements to visual and acoustic targets prior to and following exposure to an abrupt visual feedback rotation. Results demonstrated that the magnitudes of the visual aftereffects were equivalent in the TD children and the children with DCD, indicating that both groups of children adapted similarly to the visuomotor perturbation. Moreover, the influence of visuomotor adaptation on auditory-motor performance was similar in the two groups of children. This suggests that the multisensory processes underlying adaptation of spatial-to-motor transformations are similar in children with DCD and TD children.

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Notes

  1. Previous research has standardized (i.e., z-transformed) post-exposure data relative to the baseline phases to account for any inherent group differences in the mean and/or variability of baseline performance (Kagerer et al. 2004, 2006). A two-sample t test on standardized IDE values from auditory post-exposure phase revealed no significant differences between the children with DCD and TD children (P = 0.36). Moreover, non-parametric bootstrap analyses on the standardized data also revealed no significant differences (P = 0.34; Cohen’s d = 0.43, 95% interval = [−0.63, 1.48]). These results are consistent with the findings based on the non-standardized data presented in the main text.

  2. Two-sample t test on standardized IDE and RMSE values from the visual post-exposure phase revealed no significant differences between the children with DCD and TD children (IDE: P = 0.24; RMSE: P = 0.97). Non-parametric bootstrap analyses on the standardized data also revealed no significant differences (IDE: P = 0.22; Cohen’s d = 0.57, 95% interval = [−0.64, 1.78]; RMSE: P = 0.97; Cohen’s d = 0.02, 95% interval = [−1.21, 1.27]). These results are consistent with the findings based on the non-standardized data presented in the main text.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by National Institutes of Health R01HD42527 (JEC) and R03HD050372 (FAK). We would like to thank the children and their parents for participating in our study and Melissa M. Pangelinan and two anonymous reviewers for feedback during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Motor Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, 2351 SPH Building, College Park, MD, 20742-2611, USA

    Bradley R. King, Jose L. Contreras-Vidal & Jane E. Clark

  2. Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Florian A. Kagerer

  3. Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Florian A. Kagerer

  4. Department of Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Jeffrey R. Harring

  5. Graduate Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Jose L. Contreras-Vidal & Jane E. Clark

  6. Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Jose L. Contreras-Vidal

Authors
  1. Bradley R. King
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  2. Florian A. Kagerer
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  3. Jeffrey R. Harring
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  4. Jose L. Contreras-Vidal
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  5. Jane E. Clark
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Correspondence to Bradley R. King.

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King, B.R., Kagerer, F.A., Harring, J.R. et al. Multisensory adaptation of spatial-to-motor transformations in children with developmental coordination disorder. Exp Brain Res 212, 257–265 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2722-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2722-z

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