Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts
The majority of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) struggle with static and dynamic balance, yet there is limited understanding of the underlying neuromechanical mechanisms that underpin poor balance control in these children. Eighteen children with DCD and seven typically devel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1267424/full |
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| author | Carla Harkness-Armstrong Emma F. Hodson-Tole Emma F. Hodson-Tole Greg Wood Greg Wood Richard Mills Richard Mills |
| author_facet | Carla Harkness-Armstrong Emma F. Hodson-Tole Emma F. Hodson-Tole Greg Wood Greg Wood Richard Mills Richard Mills |
| author_sort | Carla Harkness-Armstrong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The majority of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) struggle with static and dynamic balance, yet there is limited understanding of the underlying neuromechanical mechanisms that underpin poor balance control in these children. Eighteen children with DCD and seven typically developing (TD) children aged 7–10 years stood with eyes open on a moveable platform progressively translated antero-posteriorly through three frequencies (0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 Hz). Myoelectric activity of eight leg muscles, whole-body 3D kinematics and centre of pressure were recorded. At each frequency, postural data were divided into transition-state and steady-state cycles. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model with follow-up Tukey’s pairwise comparisons. At the slowest frequency, children with DCD behaved like age-matched TD controls. At the fastest frequency, children with DCD took a greater number of steps, had a greater centre of mass variability, had a greater centre of pressure area, and tended to activate their muscles earlier and for longer than TD children. Children with DCD did not alter their postural response following prolonged exposure to platform movement, however they made more, non-structured postural adjustments in the medio-lateral direction as task difficulty increased. At the faster oscillation frequencies, children with DCD adopted a different muscle recruitment strategy to TD children. Activating their muscles earlier and for longer may suggest that children with DCD attempt to predict and react to postural disturbances, however the resulting anticipatory muscle excitation patterns do not seem as finely tuned to the perturbation as those demonstrated by TD children. Future work should examine the impact of balance training interventions on the muscle recruitment strategies of children with DCD, to ensure optimal interventions can be prescribed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:24:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-321a23865ef6472c88ebbe9c1e4d2fb5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:24:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-321a23865ef6472c88ebbe9c1e4d2fb52023-10-27T22:01:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612023-10-011710.3389/fnhum.2023.12674241267424Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterpartsCarla Harkness-Armstrong0Emma F. Hodson-Tole1Emma F. Hodson-Tole2Greg Wood3Greg Wood4Richard Mills5Richard Mills6Centre for Physical Activity in Health and Disease, Division of Sport, Health, and Exercise Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United KingdomDepartment of Life Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United KingdomManchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, Manchester, United KingdomManchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, Manchester, United KingdomDepartment of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United KingdomManchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, Manchester, United KingdomDepartment of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United KingdomThe majority of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) struggle with static and dynamic balance, yet there is limited understanding of the underlying neuromechanical mechanisms that underpin poor balance control in these children. Eighteen children with DCD and seven typically developing (TD) children aged 7–10 years stood with eyes open on a moveable platform progressively translated antero-posteriorly through three frequencies (0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 Hz). Myoelectric activity of eight leg muscles, whole-body 3D kinematics and centre of pressure were recorded. At each frequency, postural data were divided into transition-state and steady-state cycles. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model with follow-up Tukey’s pairwise comparisons. At the slowest frequency, children with DCD behaved like age-matched TD controls. At the fastest frequency, children with DCD took a greater number of steps, had a greater centre of mass variability, had a greater centre of pressure area, and tended to activate their muscles earlier and for longer than TD children. Children with DCD did not alter their postural response following prolonged exposure to platform movement, however they made more, non-structured postural adjustments in the medio-lateral direction as task difficulty increased. At the faster oscillation frequencies, children with DCD adopted a different muscle recruitment strategy to TD children. Activating their muscles earlier and for longer may suggest that children with DCD attempt to predict and react to postural disturbances, however the resulting anticipatory muscle excitation patterns do not seem as finely tuned to the perturbation as those demonstrated by TD children. Future work should examine the impact of balance training interventions on the muscle recruitment strategies of children with DCD, to ensure optimal interventions can be prescribed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1267424/fullbalancepostural controldyspraxiaelectromyographymotor controlentropy halflife |
| spellingShingle | Carla Harkness-Armstrong Emma F. Hodson-Tole Emma F. Hodson-Tole Greg Wood Greg Wood Richard Mills Richard Mills Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts Frontiers in Human Neuroscience balance postural control dyspraxia electromyography motor control entropy halflife |
| title | Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts |
| title_full | Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts |
| title_fullStr | Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts |
| title_short | Children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine-tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts |
| title_sort | children with developmental coordination disorder are less able to fine tune muscle activity in anticipation of postural perturbations than typically developing counterparts |
| topic | balance postural control dyspraxia electromyography motor control entropy halflife |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1267424/full |
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