Information Processing and Motor Control in Down Syndrome

Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 2017

This study investigated the acquisition of a serial motor skill in individuals with Down syndrome with two levels of handicap, mild group (mean age = 14.5 years, SD = 2.3, 7 individuals) and moderate group (mean age = 15.2 years, SD = 3.2, 7 individuals). The task involved single-arm sequential movements to five. The measures to access performance were overall sequence error, reaction time, and total movement time. To evaluate action program, formation variability of sequencing and relative timing variability were considered. Although there was no clear practice effect, the results showed that the level of handicap led to different strategies to plan and control the actions. The moderate group presented a less stable action program expressed in the variability in sequencing and timing. Their longer reaction times also suggest a heavy demand on central processing in accord with the onetarget advantage hypothesis and also due to memory deficits to select and plan movements.

2011

European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 1999

The aim of this study was to determine whether perceptual±motor competence in school-age children with Down syndrome was generally delayed or varied as a function of type of action. Twenty-two children with Down syndrome (13 males, 9 females), aged between 4.5 and 14 years were assessed on two standardized tests, the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement ABC), a test of motor competence assessing gross and fine motor coordination, and on the Developmental Test of Visual±Motor Integration, a test focusing on shape copying. In order to obtain a profile of each child's performance on the different items contained in the Movement ABC, the test was used in its extended form. This involves testing any child who failed an item appropriate for his/her level, at progressively lower levels until a base-line measure was obtained.

Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 2006

The purpose of this study was to assess whether verbal-motor performances deficits exhibited by individuals with Down syndrome limited their ability to acquire gross motor skills when given visual and verbal instruction together and then transferred to either a visual or verbal instructional mode to reproduce the movement. Nine individuals with Down syndrome (6 males, 3 females) performed 3 gross motor skills. Both visual and verbal instructional guidance was given to the participants over a 4-day period. Twenty-four hours later, the participants were video recorded as they produced the movements (used as baseline measures). On Day 6, they were randomly assigned into verbal and visual groups and required to reproduce the skills while the experimenter provided either visual demonstration or verbal instructions depending on the group. Based on skill performance scores, participants in the verbal-motor performance group demonstrated a lower level of proficiency and an increased number of performance errors when compared to participants in the visual-motor performance group. Moreover, while the visual group demonstrated an increase in performance levels compared to baseline measures, the opposite effect was seen for the verbal group.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022

In children, motor competence (MC) and the amount of physical activity are tightly interconnected. In adults with Down syndrome (DS), MC has been poorly addressed, resulting in a limited understanding of the possibility to improve MC over time. Here, we aim to: (1) investigate MC in adults with DS by comparing them with a group of typically developed peers and (2) verify the effect of an adapted karate program on MC. Adults with DS (DSG; n = 57) and typically developed adults (TDG; n = 21) performed the Test of Gross Motor Development version 3 (TGMD-3). The total TGMD-3 score (TOTTGMD-3), the locomotor (LOCTGMD-3), and object control (OBJTGMD-3) scores were computed. After a 40 week adapted karate program, DSG (n = 37) underwent the post-training TGMD-3 assessment. Compared to TDG, DSG showed lower TOTTGMD-3 (DSG: 45.5 ± 17.3; TDG: 77.3 ± 9.5), LOCTGMD-3 (DSG: 22.2 ± 10.0; TDG: 36.2 ± 7.6) and OBJTGMD-3 (DSG: 23.3 ± 10.9; TDG: 41.1 ± 5.6). After the training, TOTTGMD-3, LOCTGMD-3 a...

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 2022

Background: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have impaired general motor skills compared to typically developed (TD) individuals. Aims: To gain knowledge on how young adults with DS learn and retain new motor skills. Methods and Procedures: A DS-group (mean age = 23.9 ± 3 years, N = 11), and an agematched TD-group (mean age 22.8 ± 1.8, N= 14) were recruited. The participants practiced a sequence visuomotor accuracy tracking task (VATT). Online and offline effects of practice were assessed in immediate and 7-day retention tests. Participants practiced the task in seven blocks (10.6 minutes). Outcomes and Results: The TD-group performed better than the DS-group in all blocks (all P < 0.001). Both groups improved VATT-performance online from baseline to immediate retention (all P < 0.001). The DS-groups' performance at 7-day retention was at the same level as the immediate retention tests (∆DS). An offline decrease in performance was found in the TD-group (∆TD, P < 0.001). A between-group difference was observed in the offline effect on the sequence task

Pediatric Physical Therapy, 2009

Purpose: To examine whether participation in sensorimotor groups and individual intervention resulted in greater improvements in motor skill acquisition than solely individual intervention for young children with Down syndrome. Methods: Ten children with Down syndrome, 13 to 29 months of age, participated. Children in both groups received individual intervention, and children in the intervention group participated in 10 weekly sensorimotor groups. All children were assessed at 3 points using the Gross Motor Function Measure and Goal Attainment Scaling. Results: Children in the intervention group demonstrated significant improvement compared with children in the control group at the p Ͻ 0.10 level in lying and rolling, crawling and kneeling, and total score domains of the Gross Motor Function Measure and in Goal Attainment Scaling. Conclusions: Participation in sensorimotor groups and individual intervention resulted in greater improvement in motor skill acquisition than solely individual intervention for young children with Down syndrome. Additional research to support these exploratory findings is needed.

Introduction and objectives: Motor and cognitive development of children with Down syndrome (DS) is delayed and inharmonic. Neuro–muscular abnormalities, such as hypotonia, retained primary reflexes, and slow performance of volitional reaction, result in difficulties with body balance. The aim of the presented study is to assess the global motor functions and body balance of children with DS in relation to age and mental development. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 79 children with DS (42 boys, 37 girls), average age 6 years and 3 months ± 4 years and 6 months. Participants were divided according to age range into 3 groups: < 3 years old, 3 – 6 years old, > 6 years old. Children were assessed using Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88) and Paediatric Balance Scale (PBS). Psychological diagnosis served to determine the degree of mental development using the Brunet–Lezine Scale for children younger than 3 years old, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) for those who are older than 3 years. Nine children in research group had not been diagnosed by psychologists, which is the reason why the analysis referring to mental development was performed in 70 children (34 girls, 36 boys), with an average age of 4 years and 6 months. Results: GMFM–88 scores were significantly lower in children with moderate psychomotor delay than in children with mild psychomotor delay, or normally developed children, p=0.043. GMFM-88 scores in children with profound mental impairment were lower than in children with mild or moderate mental impairment. There was a statistical significant correlation between GMFM-88 scores and the PBS scores, r= 0.7, p<0.0001. Conclusions: Motor development of children with Down syndrome from towns and villages in the Greater Poland region is associated with cognitive development, especially in the first three years of life, with the balance functions being closely related to motor skills.

International Journal of Health Science

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Behavior Genetics, 2006

Neuropsychological research has permitted defining specific cognitive profiles among individuals with mental retardation (MR) of different etiology. Namely, the cognitive profile of people with Down syndrome (DS) is often reported to be characterized by a deficit in language abilities that usually exceed impairments in visual-spatial capacities. However, recent studies have demonstrated a more complex neuropsychological profile in this population, with atypical development in the cognitive and in the linguistic domain. This paper is dedicated to reviewing literature regarding motor, linguistic and cognitive abilities in DS. Our aim is to present evidences supporting the hypothesis that individuals with these syndrome exhibit a peculiar motor development and neuropsychological profile with some abilities more preserved and others more impaired. This finding may have theoretical and practical implications. In fact, a better definition of the cognitive pattern in DS may contribute to understand the nature of MR in general and, also, it may suggests individualized rehabilitation treatment protocols.