Tseng Yu-Ting, Chen Yi-Wen, Lin Yi-Hsuan, Tsai Chia-Liang, Chuang Chun-Hsiang
Department of Kinesiology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan; Research Center for Education and Mind Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
Department of Kinesiology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
Brain Cogn. 2024 Dec;182:106224. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106224. Epub 2024 Oct 30.
Proprioceptive deficits have been shown to underlie motor problems in individuals with a probable developmental coordination disorder (pDCD). Behavioral studies have employed response times to passive limb movement to evaluate proprioceptive function in individuals with pDCD. However, the underlying neural mechanisms involved in the cortical processing of proprioceptive input and its corresponding motor response are unclear. To address this issue, this study aims to investigate neuropsychological and neurophysiological performances using event-related potentials (ERP) on proprioceptive-motor tasks in young adults with pDCD.
From a total of 149 young adults screened using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency 2nd Edition Complete Form (BOT-2), 12 individuals with pDCD were identified (mean age ± SD: 20.50 ± 1.08 years) along with 12 age- and sex-matched controls (mean age ± SD: 20.75 ± 1.05 years). Participants placed their dominant foot on a passive ankle motion apparatus that plantarflexed the ankle at a constant velocity of 22°/s for a total of 75 trials in each proprioceptive condition. With vision occluded, participants had to press the trigger button held by the dominant hand when they sensed the passive motion of the ankle (voluntary response, VR), or purely receive the movement without a voluntary response (non-voluntary response, NVR). Behavioral performances [i.e., mean movement detection time (MDT), the standard deviation of the movement detection time (MDT)] and ERP indices (i.e., N1, P3 amplitude, and latency) related to ankle kinesthetic stimuli were obtained to determine the proprioceptive-motor function.
The results showed that young adults with pDCD exhibited longer MDT (p < 0.001) and MDT (p = 0.002) compared to their controls. Electrophysiological indices measured at frontal and central electrode sites, showed that young adults with pDCD exhibited significantly smaller N1 (p = 0.019) and P3 amplitudes (p = 0.032) during VR and NVR conditions. Notably, correlation analysis revealed a significant negative relationship between MDT and N1 (r = 0.62, p < 0.001) and P3 amplitudes (r = - 0.55, p = 0.005) in the VR condition in young adults with and without pDCD.
This study sheds light on the central brain mechanisms underlying proprioceptive-motor deficits in young adults with pDCD. The combined analysis of behavioral and ERP data suggests that longer MDT and larger MDT in young adults with pDCD are associated with weaker proprioceptive afferent inflow shown by decreased N1 amplitude to the frontal and parietal cortices. Such degraded proprioceptive signals are followed by reduced P3 amplitude, suggesting that young adults with pDCD allocate fewer neural resources to modulate motor processes with regard to proprioceptive stimuli. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the neurophysiological basis of proprioceptive-motor deficits in pDCD and may inform the development of targeted sensorimotor interventions.
本体感觉缺陷已被证明是可能患有发育性协调障碍（pDCD）个体运动问题的潜在原因。行为学研究已采用对被动肢体运动的反应时间来评估pDCD个体的本体感觉功能。然而，本体感觉输入的皮质处理及其相应运动反应所涉及的潜在神经机制尚不清楚。为解决这一问题，本研究旨在使用事件相关电位（ERP）对患有pDCD的年轻成年人进行本体感觉 - 运动任务的神经心理学和神经生理学表现研究。
在总共149名使用布鲁因inks - 奥塞列茨基运动熟练度测试第二版完整表格（BOT - 2）进行筛查的年轻成年人中，确定了12名患有pDCD的个体（平均年龄±标准差：20.50±1.08岁）以及12名年龄和性别匹配的对照组（平均年龄±标准差：20.75±1.05岁）。参与者将其优势脚放在一个被动踝关节运动装置上，该装置以22°/秒的恒定速度使踝关节跖屈，在每种本体感觉条件下总共进行75次试验。在视觉被遮挡的情况下，参与者在感觉到踝关节的被动运动时必须按下优势手持有的触发按钮（自主反应，VR），或者纯粹接受运动而不进行自主反应（非自主反应，NVR）。获取与踝关节本体感觉刺激相关的行为表现[即平均运动检测时间（MDT）、运动检测时间的标准差（MDT）]和ERP指标（即N1、P3波幅和潜伏期），以确定本体感觉 - 运动功能。
结果显示，与对照组相比，患有pDCD的年轻成年人表现出更长的MDT（p < 0.001）和MDT（p = 0.002）。在额部和中央电极部位测量的电生理指标显示，患有pDCD的年轻成年人在VR和NVR条件下表现出明显更小的N1（p = 0.019）和P3波幅（p = 0.032）。值得注意的是，相关性分析显示，在患有和未患有pDCD的年轻成年人的VR条件下，MDT与N1（r = 0.62，p < 0.001）和P3波幅（r = - 0.55，p = 0.005）之间存在显著的负相关关系。
本研究揭示了患有pDCD的年轻成年人本体感觉 - 运动缺陷背后的中枢脑机制。行为和ERP数据的综合分析表明，患有pDCD的年轻成年人中更长的MDT和更大的MDT与额叶和顶叶皮质N1波幅降低所显示的较弱本体感觉传入流相关。这种本体感觉信号的退化随后伴随着P3波幅的降低，表明患有pDCD的年轻成年人在调节与本体感觉刺激相关的运动过程时分配的神经资源较少。这些发现有助于更好地理解pDCD中本体感觉 - 运动缺陷的神经生理基础，并可能为有针对性的感觉运动干预措施的开发提供信息。
