Using a Dance Mat to Assess Inhibitory Control of Foot in Young Children

Abstract

The development of motor response inhibition is critical during preschool years and has been associated with an improvement in gross motor coordination in this population. However, the assessment of inhibitory abilities in young children is challenging in terms of task selection and subject engagement, especially when investigating foot responses. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe a child-friendly Go/No-go paradigm to assess inhibitory control of foot based on a dance mat protocol. In this method, Go and No-go stimuli are modeled in the context of a fishing game, and behavioral responses are assessed by recording the latency to touch the mat and the accuracy of the touches. In this protocol article, we (1) describe the stages of the experimental set-up, (2) provide an illustrative data collection example in a sample of children aged 3–4 years, and (3) describe how to process the data generated. The utilization of the dance mat provides a feasible tool for researchers interested in studying the development of motor inhibitory control of foot in preschoolers. Potential applications of this protocol may include studies on developmental differences between hand and foot specialization, sports-related performance and neuroimaging.

A touching advantage: cross-modal stop-signals improve reactive response inhibition

“…Thus, the stop-signal paradigm itself needs to be adapted to a new environment with the addition of a foot pedal to simulate a break and response control would need to be constantly tracked on the steering wheel (Morein-Zamir et al 2006 ). In fact, some research groups already investigated foot-based inhibitory control (Lenné et al 2011 ; Petraconi et al 2019 ) and provided evidence that their neural correlates overlap (Tabu et al 2012 ). Thus, some of the results of the present studies may potentially transfer to foot-based inhibitory control (i.e., a tactile stop-signal may aid in stopping a foot-response as well).…”