Cortical activity in fine‐motor tasks in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A preliminary fNIRS study

Abstract

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is as a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by poor motor proficiency, which impacts academic performance and activities of daily living. Several studies have determined that children with DCD activate different regions of the brain when performing motor skills in comparison to typically developing (TD) children. However, none have used Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to explore cortical activation in this population. With that, the goal of this preliminary study was to investigate cortical activation using fNIRS in six children with DCD and six TD children between ages of 8 and 12 years. Three fine-motor tasks were performed: Finger Tapping (FT), Curve Tracing (CT), and Paragraph Writing (PW). Tasks were presented in counterbalanced order and had a baseline of 30s. Cortical activity elicited during performance of the FT, CT, and PW tasks was measured by fNIRS, and activation areas within each group were statistically compared. Results indicated that participant groups used different focal activation areas as well as different neural networks to perform the tasks. These distinct patterns were also task-specific, with differences in the right Pre-Motor Cortex (Pre-MC) and Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) for CT, and the right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) and the right Pre-MC for the PW task. These results add to the body of research exploring neurological alterations in children with DCD, and establish the feasibility of using fNIRS technology with this population.

Case Study Fine Motor Development Children: Developmental Coordination Disorder

“…In line with that opinion, children with motor coordination problems such as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), often experience challenges in carrying out motor activities where balance is needed [10]. Research conducted by Cacola, et al in [4] describes the following criteria for the diagnosis of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) such as (1) motor skills below the expected level and not like the average ability of a friend. (2) difficulties in carrying out daily activities such as the ability to write / hold toys.…”

“…Given the importance of children's fine motor skills, prevention should be done so that this does not happen. Fine motor development can be hampered due to Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) [4]. Developmental Coordination Disorder is a neurological development condition characterized by poor motor skills that interfere with individual activities in everyday life, including academic achievement [5].…”

Neural correlates of newsvendor-based decision making in the human brain:An exploratory study to link neuroeconomics with neuroimaging using fNIRS

“…A continuous-wave, multi-channel fNIRS system (LABNIRS, Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan) was employed in this study. As reported before 29 , a customized 77-channel layout incorporating 25 pairs of laser transmitters and 23 light receivers was used to cover from the prefrontal cortex to sensorimotor cortex. Figure 4 shows the locations of 77 channels on a human brain template; these channels were connected to the LABNIRS data collection system.…”

“…Then, each time series of ∆[HbO] and ∆[Hb] was baseline calibrated by subtracting its temporal average to remove any potential drifts during the baseline recording time. Moreover, to further remove physiological variations due to arterial blood pressure or Mayer waves coming from the scalp and skull, we subtracted the signal spatially averaged across all 77 channels to remove the global noise29,32,33 .…”

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD): An overview of the condition and research evidence

“…In summary, it appears that children with DCD show increased activation in certain areas of the brain (for example, fronto-central regions) while performing some tasks, or under activation in certain areas (for example, right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex) when handling different tasks. A recent study using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) found that patterns of cortical activation are task-specific, with differences in the right Pre-Motor Cortex (Pre-MC) and Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) for the curve tracing task of the MABC-2, and the right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) and the right Pre-MC for the paragraph writing task 27 . According to Brown-Lum and Zwicker 26 , a combination of these findings supports the hypothesis that DCD is the result of atypical brain development, and establish the notion that children with DCD are neurobiologically different than TD peers.…”