Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2024 Sep 14;21(1):160. doi: 10.1186/s12984-024-01465-z.
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have impaired online motor control. Researchers posit that this impairment could be due to a deficit in utilizing the internal model control process. However, there is little neurological evidence to support this view because few neuroimaging studies have focused specifically on tasks involving online motor control. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the differences in cortical hemodynamic activity during an online movement adjustment task between children with and without DCD.
Twenty children with DCD (mean age: 9.88 ± 1.67 years; gender: 14M/6F) and twenty age-and-gender matched children with typical development (TD) (mean age: 9.87 ± 1.59 years; gender: 14M/6F) were recruited via convenience sampling. Participants performed a double-step reaching task under two conditions (with and without online adjustment of reaching). Cortical hemodynamic activity during task in ten regions of interest, including bilateral primary somatosensory cortex, primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, superior parietal cortex, and inferior parietal cortex was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. In the analyses, change in oxyhemoglobin (ΔHbO) concentration was used to characterize hemodynamic response. Two-way analyses of variance were conducted for each region of interest to compare hemodynamic responses between groups and conditions. Additionally, Pearson's r correlations between hemodynamic response and task performance were performed.
Outcome showed that children with DCD required significantly more time to correct their reaching movements compared to the control group (t = 3.948, P < 0.001). Furthermore, children with DCD have a significantly lower ΔHbO change in the left superior parietal cortex during movement correction, compared to children with TD (F = 4.482, P = 0.041). Additionally, a significant negative correlation (r = - 0.598, P < 0.001) was observed between the difference in movement time of reaching and the difference in ΔHbO between conditions in the left superior parietal cortex.
The findings of this study suggest that deficiencies in processing real-time sensory feedback, considering the function of the superior parietal cortex, might be related to the impaired online motor control observed in children with DCD. Interventions could target this issue to enhance their performance in online motor control.
患有发育性协调障碍（DCD）的儿童存在在线运动控制受损的问题。研究人员假设，这种损伤可能是由于内部模型控制过程利用不足所致。然而，由于很少有神经影像学研究专门关注涉及在线运动控制的任务，因此几乎没有神经科学证据支持这一观点。因此，本研究的目的是调查患有和不患有 DCD 的儿童在进行在线运动调整任务时皮质血流动力学活动的差异。
通过便利抽样，招募了 20 名患有 DCD 的儿童（平均年龄：9.88±1.67 岁；性别：14 名男性/6 名女性）和 20 名年龄和性别匹配的具有典型发育的儿童（TD）（平均年龄：9.87±1.59 岁；性别：14 名男性/6 名女性）。参与者在两种条件下（有和没有在线调整）完成双步到达任务。使用功能近红外光谱仪记录任务期间十个感兴趣区域（双侧初级体感皮层、初级运动皮层、运动前皮层、顶叶上回和顶叶下回）的皮质血流动力学活动。在分析中，使用氧合血红蛋白（ΔHbO）浓度的变化来描述血流动力学反应。对每个感兴趣区域进行双向方差分析，以比较组间和条件间的血流动力学反应。此外，还进行了 Pearson r 相关分析，以研究血流动力学反应与任务表现之间的关系。
结果表明，与对照组相比，患有 DCD 的儿童需要花费更多的时间来纠正他们的运动动作（t=3.948，P<0.001）。此外，与 TD 儿童相比，患有 DCD 的儿童在运动校正期间左侧顶叶上回的ΔHbO 变化明显较低（F=4.482，P=0.041）。此外，在左侧顶叶上回，运动到达时间的差异与条件间 ΔHbO 的差异之间存在显著的负相关（r=-0.598，P<0.001）。
本研究的结果表明，实时感觉反馈处理能力不足，考虑到顶叶上回的功能，可能与患有 DCD 的儿童在线运动控制受损有关。干预措施可以针对这个问题，以提高他们在线运动控制的表现。
