Sparaci Laura, Formica Domenico, Lasorsa Francesca Romana, Mazzone Luigi, Valeri Giovanni, Vicari Stefano
Language and Communication Across Modalities Laboratory (LaCAM), Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Nomentana 56, 00161, Rome, RM, Italy.
Laboratory of Biomedical Robotics and Biomicrosystems, (CIR), University Campus Biomedico, Rome, RM, Italy.
Autism Res. 2015 Aug;8(4):398-411. doi: 10.1002/aur.1455. Epub 2015 Jan 30.
Numerous studies have underscored prevalence of motor impairments in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but only few of them have analyzed motor strategies exploited by ASD children when learning a new motor procedure. To evaluate motor procedure learning and performance strategies in both ASD and typically developing (TD) children, we built a virtual pursuit rotor (VPR) task, requiring tracking a moving target on a computer screen using a digitalized pen and tablet. Procedural learning was measured as increased time on target (TT) across blocks of trials on the same day and consolidation was assessed after a 24-hour rest. The program and the experimental setting (evaluated in a first experiment considering two groups of TD children) allowed also measures of continuous time on target (CTT), distance from target (DT) and distance from path (DP), as well as 2D reconstructions of children's trajectories. Results showed that the VPR was harder for children with ASD than for TD controls matched for chronological age and intelligence quotient, but both groups displayed comparable motor procedure learning (i.e., similarly incremented their TT). However, closer analysis of CTT, DT, and DP as well as 2D trajectories, showed different motor performance strategies in ASD, highlighting difficulties in overall actions planning. Data underscore the need for deeper investigations of motor strategies exploited by children with ASD when learning a new motor procedure.
众多研究都强调了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童中运动障碍的普遍性，但其中只有少数研究分析了ASD儿童在学习新的运动程序时所采用的运动策略。为了评估ASD儿童和发育正常（TD）儿童的运动程序学习及表现策略，我们构建了一个虚拟追踪转子（VPR）任务，要求使用数字化笔和平板电脑在电脑屏幕上追踪一个移动目标。程序性学习通过同一天各试验块中目标停留时间（TT）的增加来衡量，巩固情况则在24小时休息后进行评估。该程序和实验设置（在第一个实验中对两组TD儿童进行评估）还能测量目标持续时间（CTT）、与目标的距离（DT）和与路径的距离（DP），以及儿童轨迹的二维重建。结果表明，对于ASD儿童来说，VPR任务比年龄和智商匹配的TD对照组儿童更难，但两组在运动程序学习方面表现相当（即TT都有类似增加）。然而，对CTT、DT和DP以及二维轨迹的进一步分析显示，ASD儿童有不同的运动表现策略，突出了整体动作规划方面的困难。数据强调需要更深入地研究ASD儿童在学习新的运动程序时所采用的运动策略。
