1,720,974 research outputs found
How do children coordinate simultaneous upper and lower extremity tasks? The development of dual motor task coordination
No full textWhen performing simultaneous clapping with walking or galloping, adults adopt coupled, consistent and stable dual motor task coordination (Whitall & Getchell, 1996); do developmental trends in this coordination exist? In this study, we measured and compared coupling characteristics, consistency across trials and variability of phasing in 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds (n=44) as they also performed the same dual motor task. For walk/clap, children adopted specific coupling patterns like adults by 8 years and with the same consistency by 10 years. Across age, children became less variable in clap and step movements separately and as coupled together. In the gallop/clap, children did not resemble adults in coupling patterns by 10 years but all measures were becoming more consistent across age. We discuss dual motor task coordination as a function of age and task complexity using a “dynamic” perspective within a developmental contex
Transitions to and from asymmetrical gait patterns
No full textAsymmetrical gait patterns such as the gallop provide insight into the complexity of human locomotion. The nature of spontaneous (e.g., walk-run), quasi-spontaneous (e.g., gallop-walk), and intentional (e.g., walk-gallop) transitions was analyzed in 2 ways in the present study. In Analysis 1, the authors used step-wise regression to associate 10 physical characteristics with gait transitions. Transition predictability was moderate; thigh length best predicted 3 of 6 transitions. In Analysis 2, the dynamic characteristics of transitions (order parameters, phase shifts, multistability, and critical fluctuations) were described; those characteristics existed for all transition types. The results of the analyses suggest that intentional transitions are less biomechanically predictable than are spontaneous transitions and that transitions between gait pairs (e.g., walk-gallop and gallop-walk), regardless of velocity direction, have more in common than do transitions requiring specific intentio
From walking to running: applying a dynamical systems approach to the development of locomotor skills
No full textDevelopmental transitions of complex systems may be studied by selecting (collective) variables that constrain the degrees of freedom for each developmental state. In a dynamical systems approach, the transitions from state to state are engendered through the scaling of contributing subsystems (control parameters). In this study, the locomotor skills of walking and running were compared in newly running infants by observing several likely collective variables including relative stance, estimated pathway of center of mass, and segmental/joint action. 4 children were filmed longitudinally at 5.5, 7.5, and 9.5 months of independent walking and then at 3 years of age. 3 trials per gait were selected for single stride analysis and compared with data from 4 adults. In general, the proposed collective variables showed transitional forms over the first few months of running, indicating a relatively continuous change between the 2 gait forms. Coordination of the knee joint was very similar between gaits and across age, but the ankle joint was less consistent for both gaits in the infants. Relative stance and stride length data indicated that the children could not generate vertical and horizontal displacement. These findings echo those found in newly walking infants and suggest that similar rate-limiting parameters are present for both gait
Individual differences and similarities in the stability, timing consistency, and natural frequency of rhythmic coordinated actions
No full textUnder preferred speed conditions, 15 adults undertook bimanual in-phase and antiphase tapping, clapping, galloping, galloping while clapping, and crawling on their hands and feet. We measured stability of interlimb coordination (standard deviation of mean interlimb relative phasing), single limb timing consistency (coefficient of variation of mean single limb cycle durations), and natural limb frequency. Pearson product-moment correlations among tasks established that only the natural limb frequencies were significantly correlated (specifically among gross motor actions in which larger contributions of inertial loads contribute to natural frequencies). Intraclass correlations were high for tasks, meaning that within each task, all participants performed similarly. Thus, only frequency has a tendency to show a common time-based process within a participant, but common time-based processes exist between participant
The effect of nonspecific task constraints on quadrupedal locomotion: I. Interlimb coordination
No full textThe present study examined the effect of nonspecific task constraints on the multilimb coordination task of preferred-speed crawling. Adult subjects undertook three trials each of the following randomly ordered conditions: forward prone (FP), backward supine (BS), backward prone (BP) and forward supine (FS). Subjects adopted specific coordinative solutions consistent with task-related function rather than anatomical specification. The patterns were relatively stable, with BP being least stable. Across conditions, subjects changed their velocity in a predictable order that corresponded to the various constraints. These velocity changes were largely attributable to stride length adjustments and not limb frequency. Within a condition, neither velocity nor anthropometrics appeared to influence the coordinative solution. Overall, rather large differences were found in coordinative solutions, possibly owing to the nature of the tasks and/or individual searching strategies. The results were interpretable within a dynamic approach to coordination and support the idea that coordination is functionally rather than anatomically determine
Multilimb coordination patterns in simultaneous, dissimilar upper and lower limb tasks
No full textMultilimb coordination was examined when subjects clapped (in-phase pattern) while walking (out-of-phase pattern) or galloping (off-phase pattern). Based on previous studies of rhythmic limb movements it was predicted that in-phase frequency-locked coordination would be the most attractive mode, although a previous study by Muzii et al. (1984) had suggested that other coordination modes existed. Subjects clapped and walked or galloped at a preferred speed and at one of four different task manipulations: extended practice, overall speed, temporal and spatial. The resultant multilimb coordination patterns were classified in terms of frequency-locking, phase relationships and stability of between-girdle and within-girdle relationships. Absolute step frequency-locking was the most attractive coordination mode for the clap/walk task, but an unlocked-stable coordination mode was also present. For the clap/gallop, absolute stride frequency-locking was the only attractive coordination mode. Subjects tended to be stable in their preferences across trials and across changes in speed or they adopted a frequency-locked mode. Temporal and spatial manipulations of one limb girdle with respect to the other most commonly resulted in an unlocking of frequency, although there was much inter-subject variability and signs of individual attentional strategies. In general, the results indicated that coordination was a product of a complex interaction of organismic and task constraints, but with many characteristics that are consistent with a general dynamical systems perspective on rhythmic interlimb coordinatio
Dual motor task coordination in children with and without learning disabilities
No full textThis study examines gross motor coordination in children with and without learning disabilities using a dynamical systems perspective. In a dual motor task paradigm (walk/clap, gallop/clap), we measured and compared frequency and phase locking and consistency within and across trials in 12 children with learning disabilities and 12 age-matched typically developing children. In the walk/clap condition, groups differed in consistency and in entrainment (increased frequency of 4 limb coupling) over short-term practice. In the gallop/clap condition, groups differed in consistency; neither group showed entrainment. Comparisons within the LD group of participants with and without diagnosed visual-motor problems showed differences in classification, consistency, and entrainment. These results suggest that gross motor coordination tasks provide information about as well as a novel opportunity for early identification of learning disabilitie
Editorial: Promoting motor development in children in the COVID-19 era: Science and applications
No full textNo abstract availabl
Brain Activation in the Prefrontal Cortex during Motor and Cognitive Tasks in Adults
No full textPublisher's PDFThe prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays an important role in cognitive function, involved
in Executive Functions (EFs) such as planning, working memory, and inhibition. Activation
in the PFC also occurs during some motor activities. One commonly used
tool to assess EF is the Tower of Hanoi, demonstrating sensitivity to PFC dysfunction.
However, limited neuroimaging evidence is available to support the contribution
of the PFC in the Tower of Hanoi task. In the current study, we use functional
near infrared (fNIR) spectroscopy to examine hemodynamic responses associated
with neural activity in the PFC in adults as they participate in the Tower of Hanoi
task. We compared changes in cerebral oxygenation during resting, a motor task
(tapping), and the Tower of Hanoi in 16 neurotypical adults, with measures of relative
changes in concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (Δoxy-Hb) and deoxygenated
hemoglobin (Δdeoxy-Hb) taken throughout tasks, as well as total hemoglobin
(ΔHbT) and oxygenation (Δoxy). Performance on the Tower of Hanoi was measured
by the number of moves used to complete each level and the highest level of successful
performance (3, 4, or 5 disks). We found a significant higher value of Δoxy-Hb
and Δoxy in dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) during the Tower of Hanoi as compared to
tapping and resting. Significant changes in Δdeoxy-Hb and ΔHbT during the Tower
of Hanoi were found in the right DLPFC only. These results support the notion that
the Tower of Hanoi task requires higher levels of PFC activity than a similar motor
task with low executive function demands.University of Delaware. 3Department of Kinesiology & Applied Physiology
Multi-limb coordination and rhythmic variability under varying sensory availability conditions in children with DCD
No full textChildren with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have sensory processing deficits; how do these influence the interface between sensory input and motor performance? Previously, we found that children with DCD were less able to organize and maintain a gross motor coordination task in time to an auditory cue, particularly at higher frequencies [Whitall, J., Getchell, N., McMenamin, S., Horn, C., Wilms-Floet, A., & Clark, J. (2006). Perception–action coupling in children with and without DCD: Frequency locking between task relevant auditory signals and motor responses in a dual motor task. Child: Care, Health, and Development, 32, 679–692]. In the present study, we examine the same task (clapping in-phase to marching on a platform) under conditions involving the removal of vision and hearing. Eleven children with DCD (mean = 7.21, SD = 0.52 years), 7 typically developing (TD) children (mean = 6.95 ± 0.72 years), and 10 adults performed continuous clapping while marching under four conditions: with vision and hearing, without vision, without hearing, and without both. Results showed no significant condition effects for any measure taken. The DCD group was more variable in phasing their claps and footfalls than both the adult group and the TD group. There were also significant group effects for inter-clap interval coefficient of variation and inter-footfall interval coefficient of variation, with the DCD group being the most variable for both measures. Coherence analysis between limb combinations (e.g., left arm–right arm, right arm–left leg) revealed that the adults exhibited significantly greater coherence for each combination than both of the children’s groups. The TD group showed significantly greater coherence than the DCD group for every limb combination except foot–foot and left hand–right foot. Measures of approximate entropy indicated that adults differed from children both with and without DCD in the structure of the variability across a trial with adults showing more complexity. Children with DCD are able to accomplish a self-initiated gross-motor coordination task but with increased variability for most but not all measures compared to typically developing children. The availability of visual and/or auditory information does not play a significant role in stabilizing temporal coordination of this task, suggesting that these are not salient sources of information for this particular tas
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