Motor and cognitive dual-task performance under low and high task complexity in children with and without developmental coordination disorder.

Background: In everyday life, tasks are often performed simultaneously, which may be more difficult for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) than their peers.

Aims: To examine (1) the effects of task complexity and type of concurrent task on dual-task performance in children with and without DCD; and (2) if the amount of effort that children put into the task performance differs between the groups.

Methods: Participants were 64 children with and without DCD (aged 7-14 years).

End-state comfort planning after explicit goal instructions in children with and without probable developmental coordination disorder.

Background: When completing grip-selection tasks, healthy adults generally plan for the most comfortable end-posture which is termed the end-state comfort (ESC) effect. Children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are less likely to plan for ESC which begs the question as to whether they are not able to perform this type of planning or whether they prioritize other aspects of the task.

Aims: (1) Examine if children with and without probable DCD (pDCD) are able to plan for ESC if they are explicitly instructed to and (2) if this transfers to another similar task.

Benefits of an Intensive Individual CO-OP Intervention in a Group Setting for Children with DCD.

Purpose: The present study focused on the impact of an adapted Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) five-day intervention program for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Important adaptations were the new combination of individual CO-OP sessions and group activities, the short and intensive program that was followed by a training and coaching trajectory, and the use of video logs.

Materials And Methods: Eighteen children with DCD (aged 8-16 years) participated in the five-day intervention during which they worked on three intervention goals.

Second-order motor planning difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder.

The second-order motor planning ability of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has often been studied using tasks that require judgements of end-state comfort (ESC). In these studies, children may have chosen to prioritize other aspects of performance (e.g.

Eliciting End-State Comfort Planning in Children With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder Using a Hammer Task: A Pilot Study.

The end-state comfort (ESC) effect refers to the consistent tendency of healthy adults to end their movements in a comfortable end posture. In children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD), the results of studies focusing on ESC planning have been inconclusive, which is likely to be due to differences in task constraints. The present pilot study focused on the question whether children with and without DCD were able to change their planning strategy and were more likely to plan for ESC when demanded by complex object manipulations at the end of a task.

Development of motor planning in children: Disentangling elements of the planning process.

Second-order motor planning of grasping movements is usually measured using tasks that focus on the relative (dis)comfort of end posture of the arm and hand regardless of the objective outcome of performance. This may underestimate the ability for forward planning in young children. In the current study, we aimed to examine the developmental mechanisms of motor planning in children using a task that necessitates second-order motor planning for its successful completion.

Motor imagery and action observation for predictive control in developmental coordination disorder.

In 2019, international clinical practice recommendations on the definition, diagnosis, assessment, intervention, and psychosocial aspects of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) were published. Informing our understanding of mechanisms, recent systematic reviews have shown that children with DCD have difficulties with the predictive control of movements, including aspects of motor planning, which is expressed as the internal modeling deficit hypothesis. This motor control deficit is most evident when the spatial and temporal demands of a task increase.

The development of anticipatory action planning in children with unilateral cerebral palsy.

Background Previous studies suggest that compromised bimanual performance experienced by children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) is not only due to difficulties in action execution but may also be a result of impaired anticipatory action planning. Aims The effect of age and side of hemiplegia were examined and the relationship between anticipatory action planning, unimanual capacity and bimanual performance was explored. Methods and procedures Using a multi-centre, prospective, cross-sectional observational design, anticipatory action planning was analyzed in 104 children with unilateral cerebral palsy, aged 6-12 years, using the sword task.

Motor learning in children with developmental coordination disorder: The role of focus of attention and working memory.

Effective motor learning paradigms are essential for children with motor difficulties to enhance their motor skills and facilitate performance in physical activities and in daily life. This study aimed to examine the effect of feedback with an internal or external focus of attention on motor learning of children with probable Developmental Coordination Disorder (pDCD). In addition, the role of working memory capacity was examined.

Motor learning and movement automatization in typically developing children: The role of instructions with an external or internal focus of attention.

The aim of the current study was to examine the effects of an external focus of attention (i.e., on the movement outcome) versus an internal focus of attention (i.