Background
Developmental coordination disorder affects approximately 6% of children, interfering with participation in physical activity and can persist through adulthood. However, no studies have investigated the neuromotor mechanisms of learning of a novel task with rhythmic cueing.
Methods
Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd edition was used to identify 48 children with probable developmental coordination disorder (13.9 ± 0.05 yrs., 27% male) and 37 typically developed (13.9 ± 0.10 yrs., 54% male). While instrumented with an inertial measurement unit, both groups performed a novel rhythmic stepping task and with a concurrent auditory stroop test (dual-task), underwent seven weeks of intervention with step training with rhythmic cuing and were tested for retention five weeks post-intervention.
Findings
Initially, the group with probable developmental coordination disorder had a higher variability of step timing (coefficient of variation: 0.08 ± 0.003-typically developed – 0.09 ± 0.004-probable developmental coordination disorder, p < 0.05) and a frequency of peak power spectral density further from the target 0.5 Hz (0.50 ± 0.002 Hz-typically developed – 0.51 ± 0.003 Hz-probable developmental coordination disorder, p < 0.05), and were more affected by the dual-task: power spectral density at 0.5 Hz (−7.2 ± 3.3%-typically developed – -13.4 ± 4.6%- prob_DCD, p < 0.05) and stroop test errors (6.4 ± 1.1%-typically developed – -11.1 ± 2.4%- probable developmental coordination disorder, p < 0.05). The intervention led to similar improvements in both groups in coefficient of variation of step timing (0.12 ± 0.01-Pre – 0.07 ± 0.002-Post, p < 0.05), frequency of the peak power spectral density (0.51 ± 0.005 Hz-Pre – 0.50 ± 0.001 Hz-Post, p < 0.05) and relative power spectral density bandpower (3.2 ± 0.2%-Pre – 5.9 ± 0.3%-Post, p < 0.05). All improvements were retained after five weeks post-training.
Interpretation
Rhythmic cueing shows strong promise for enhancing motor learning in children with probable developmental coordination disorder.
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Developmental coordination disorder; Stepping; Motor learning; Intervention; Rhythmic cueing
Action Medical Research and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy who both supported this study (ref GN2445), Elizabeth Carsson Trust and Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging is supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust (203139/Z/16/Z), Principal Research Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust (110027/Z/15/Z), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number F30HD103527., NIHR Exeter Biomedical Research Centre, University of Exeter
ID Code:
28125
Deposited On:
07 Mar 2023 14:48 by
Thomas Murtagh
. Last Modified 07 Mar 2023 14:48