Search

In recent decades, the connections between academic skills, such as reading, writing, and calculation, and motor skills/capacities have received increasing attention. Many studies provided evidence for motor difficulties in children and adolescents with dyslexia, prompting the need for a meta-analysis to combine these multiple findings. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis using PsycINFO, Pubmed, and SportDiscus as scientific databases. A total of 572 studies were analyzed following several stringent inclusion criteria, resulting in the inclusion of 23 peer-reviewed studies in the final analysis. Our results showed that children and adolescents with dyslexia displayed significant different performances in multiple motor tasks and these differences persisted also when the type of motor task was considered as moderator in the analysis. The present findings are in accordance with the literature that supports a close connection between reading disabilities and difficulties in motor skills/capacities.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by stereotyped behavior, restricted interests and social/communicative deficits. The physiological etiology of ASD is not currently understood, however recent research has implicated dysregulation of the immune system as a central feature. The interplay between the stress systems, the immune system and the brain has been well-documented and implicated in other psychiatric and neurological disorders. This interplay suggests a role for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the etiology of ASD. We assessed levels of urinary cortisol and neopterin as markers of immune function and HPA activation in a cohort of 50 children from the central Johannesburg region. Additionally, we used the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist to assess autistic symptomatology and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test (Second Edition) (BOT-2) to assess motor skills. No relationships were found between cortisol and autistic symptomatology. No relationships were found between neopterin and any of the other measures. However, a relationship was observed between urinary cortisol and performance on balance-related tasks from the BOT-2 (P

Summary: Objectives: Later achievement of standing and walking in infancy predicts childhood physical inactivity. This study aimed to examine associations between ages of achieving six gross motor milestones and childhood physical activity, and whether these associations were mediated by adiposity. Design: A retrospective analysis of a subset from a cohort study. Methods: Data were available for 211 first-grade primary school children (aged 6–7 years) in the Kanto region, Japan. Information on ages of achieving holding head up, sitting, crawling, standing supported, walking supported, and independent walking were obtained from parental records in the Maternal and Child Health Handbooks. Adiposity was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and expressed as body fat percentage. Current gross motor skills were assessed by the Test of Gross Motor Development 2nd edition. Physical activity was measured using a triaxial accelerometer and defined as time involved in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that the age of achieving standing supported was negatively associated with MVPA (p ​= ​.021), while ages of achieving crawling (p ​= ​.010), standing supported (p ​= ​.002), and walking supported (p ​= ​.033) were positively associated with adiposity, after adjusting for potential confounders including current gross motor skills. When adiposity was introduced as a covariate, the age of achieving standing supported was still associated with MVPA (p ​= ​.048), and the indirect effect of achievement of standing supported on MVPA was not significant. Conclusions: Infants who achieve standing supported at a later age are less likely to be active during early school age, and adiposity may not mediate this association.

Background: With remarkable advancements in assisted reproductive technology (ART), the number of ART-conceived children continues to increase. Despite increased research investigating the outcomes of ART children, evidence on neurodevelopment remains controversial., Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between ART use and neurodevelopment in children at 1 year of age and to determine whether the characteristics of parental infertility and specific ART procedures affect neurodevelopment in children., Study Design: The Jiangsu Birth Cohort enrolled couples who received ART treatment and who conceived spontaneously (2014-2020) in Jiangsu Province, China. In this study, we included 3531 pregnancies with 3840 cohort children who completed neurodevelopment assessment at 1 year of age, including 1906 infants conceived by ART (including 621 twins). Poisson regressions were fitted to estimate unadjusted and adjusted risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for ART use with neurodevelopmental outcomes (cognition, receptive communication, expressive communication, fine motor, and gross motor) in children., Results: Among singletons, ART use was associated with a 24% to 34% decrease in the risk for noncompetent development in 3 domains (cognition, adjusted RR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53-0.82; receptive communication, 0.76; 0.64-0.91; expressive communication, 0.69; 0.51-0.93) after adjustment for conventional covariates. However, an inverse association was observed in the gross motor domain, with ART singletons having a greater risk of being noncompetent in gross motor development than their non-ART counterparts (adjusted RR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.11-1.79). Compared with singletons, twins resulting from ART treatment demonstrated compromised neurodevelopment in several domains. Furthermore, we continued to observe that the transfer of 'poor' quality embryos was associated with greater risks for noncompetent development in receptive communication (adjusted RR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.05-2.14) and gross motor domains (1.55; 1.02-2.36) among ART singletons., Conclusion: These results generally provide reassuring evidence among singletons born after ART in the cognition, communication, and fine motor domains, but drawn attention to their gross motor development. The quality of transferred embryos in ART treatment might be associated with offspring neurodevelopment; however, the potential associations warrant further validation in independent studies, and the clinical significance needs careful interpretation., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Provide the latest national and state estimates and correlates of the proportion of young children who are healthy and ready to learn (HRTL) using a revised measure from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH)., Methods: Data were analyzed for 11,121 children ages 3 to 5 years from the 2022 NSCH, an address-based, parent-completed survey on the health and well-being of children in the United States. A total of 27 items across 5 domains (early learning skills, social emotional development, self-regulation, motor development, and health) were used to calculate domain-specific assessments scored as "on track," "emerging," or "needs support" according to age-appropriate developmental expectations. Children "on track" in 4 to 5 domains with no domain that "needs support" were considered HRTL., Results: In 2022, 63.6% of 3- to 5-year-old children were HRTL. The proportion of children "on track" ranged from just over two thirds for early learning skills and motor development to 88.9% for health. One million children, or 9.0%, needed support in multiple domains. Being HRTL was associated with child, family, community factors including participation in early childhood education, special health care needs status/type, male sex, reading/singing/storytelling by family members, adverse childhood experiences, parental mental health and education, food insufficiency, outdoor play, household language, neighborhood amenities, rural residence, medical home access., Conclusions: Nearly two thirds of young children are reported to be HRTL, meeting the Title V National Outcome Measure for School Readiness. Using a revised measure, modifiable factors are identified which offer a range of intervention opportunities at the child, family, and community levels., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Motivation is commonly recognized by researchers and practitioners as a key factor for motor learning. The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016) claims that practice conditions that enhance learners' expectancies for future successful outcomes or that are autonomy supportive are motivating, thus leading to better learning. To examine the current evidence of the association between motivation and motor learning, we searched the literature for studies that manipulated expectancies and/or autonomy support. Specifically, our goals were to assess whether these manipulations resulted in group differences in motivation and, if so, whether increased motivation was associated with learning advantages. Results showed that out of 166 experiments, only 21% (n = 35) included at least one measure of motivation, even though this is the main factor proposed by OPTIMAL theory to explain the learning benefits of these manipulations. Among those, only 23% (n = 8) found group-level effects on motivation, suggesting that these manipulations might not be as motivating as expected. Of the eight experiments that found a group-level effect on motivation, five also observed learning benefits, offering limited evidence that when practice conditions increase motivation, learning is more likely to occur. Overall, the small number of studies assessing motivation precludes any reliable conclusions on the association between motivation and motor learning from being drawn. Together, our results question whether manipulations implemented in the research lines supporting OPTIMAL theory are indeed motivating and highlight the lack of sufficient evidence in these literatures to support that increased motivation benefits motor learning., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The present literature supports the importance of physical activity from a very early age. However, there is a lack of information about evidence-based motor programs suitable for supporting preschoolers' development in Italy. The Animal Fun program, developed in Australia, might be a valuable tool to promote children's development. The aim of this study was to use Animal Fun to verify the motor improvements in balance, aiming and catching, and the manual skills of Italian preschoolers. One hundred nineteen preschool children (3- to 6-year- olds) from three Italian kindergartens were recruited. The kindergartens were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children - 2 (MABC-2) was administered to all children at the baseline and one-month follow-up. The kindergarten assigned to the control group followed the standard curriculum, involving general physical activity; the kindergartens assigned to the Animal Fun group followed the Animal Fun program activities (thirty minutes, three times a week). Data demonstrated the statistical differences between the scores of the two groups in each domain and total score of the MABC-2 (aiming and catching, balance, and manual dexterity). The results of this study suggest that Animal Fun can support the motor improvements of Italian preschoolers and that it is applicable in the Italian context, where there is a lack of movement programs supporting the development of young children with and without motor difficulties.

Background: Studies applying transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) to motor regions to enhance surgical skills have observed modest benefits in performance. Early surgical skills acquisition is known to be dependent on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) which could be a suitable target for performance enhancement in fields with high cognitive demand. Objective: To assess whether prefrontal tDCS could improve early phases of surgical skill development. Methods: In a randomized sham-controlled double-blind parallel design, 40 surgical novices performed an open knot-tying task repeated in three blocks; pre-, online- and post-tDCS. During online stimulation, participants were randomized to either active tDCS (2 mA for 15 min) to the prefrontal cortex (anode over F3, cathode over F4) or sham tDCS. Performance score (PS) was computed using a validated algorithm and introspective workload domains were assessed using a SURG-TLX questionnaire. Results: There was no difference in demographics or PS between groups prior to receiving tDCS. PS significantly improved from pre-to online- (p

Individuals given control over practice variables make practice decisions based on their current performance. When individuals practice in pairs, the question as to if and how a partner's performance impacts these decisions is of theoretical and practical interest. Here, we evaluated this question in a multi-task learning protocol, where individuals and dyads practiced three, differently timed keystroke sequences. Dyad participants alternated turns with a partner so we could study the immediate consequences of the partner's performance on practice choice. Only one of the partners had choice over the sequence order, the other partner practiced the sequences in either a predetermined blocked or random order. Practice with a partner that had a random-schedule promoted more task-switching in the other partner and had some benefit for retention accuracy. Distinct “own-error” and “partner-error” switching strategies were evidenced, with partners choosing to repeat the same sequence on their next turn when they performed poorly or when their partner performed well. These data show that an individual's practice decisions are influenced by their social context, particularly the practice schedule and patterns of errors in a partner's performance.

Introduction: During recovery from stroke, augmented performance feedback can be applied with simple displays of metrics, as well as enhanced with virtual reality (VR) and exergames. VR, as augmented feedback, can provided to enhance walking speed after six months of stroke onset. There are several mechanisms to induce improved motor performance and motivation. Our objective is to design a study to demonstrate the different effects of augmented feedback, simple VR and exergaming applications on motivation and walking speed performance in post stroke. Methods: Eighteen individuals with chronic stroke will be recruited and asked to walk as fast and safely as they can while on a robotic, user speed-driven treadmill (KineAssist-MX®) in three conditions: (1) with simple visual augmented feedback, but without a VR interface, (2) with a basic VR interface and (3) with a VR exergame. The main outcome measures are 30 s of fast walking speed and intrinsic motivation measured using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory-Interest and Enjoyment Subscale. A within-subjects repeated measure ANOVA test and post hoc analysis will be used to determine the differences in changes of maximum walking speeds among the three performance conditions. Discussion: The additive impact of augmented feedback with or without VR and VR-exergames on motivation and walking speed during stroke rehabilitation is unknown, a gap we aim to address. Our findings will contribute key details regarding the effects of different types of augmented feedback on walking speed and intrinsic motivation and to the refinement of theoretical frameworks that guide the design and implementation of augmented feedback during recovery after stroke.

Introduction and aim. Patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and minimal hepatic encephalopaty have a higher accident rate. LC impairs the normal sleep-awake cycle and produces disturbances in behavior, cognition and motor skills. Abnormal melatonin (MT) levels have also been identified in LC. Administration of MT may regulate circadian rhythms and prevent the oxidative damage. We studied the effects of MT on spatial memory acquisition (SMA) and motor skills in a liver fibrosis model (LF)s.Materials and methods. Forty-five rats, divided into 4 groups. [G1: LF; G2: LF + MT; G3: MT; G4: Healthy control (HC)]. LF was induced by carbon tetrachloride intraperitoneal injection (0.2 mL/kg) for 5 months. MT was administered during 5 weeks (0.4 mg/kg/day). SMA was evaluated by using the Morris Water Maze protocol where the escape latency (EL) and mean speed were measured. Data were registered by SMART®.Results. The EL measurement analyzed by two way ANOVA: cirrhosis presented a higher EL than controls or those treated with MT suggesting impaired memory acquisition which is rescued by MT treatment. The mean speed analysis revealed that LF presented higher speed than LF+MT or HC, suggesting that LF affects motor skills, which are improved by MT. To discard whether EL is affected by altered motor skills in LF treated with MT, we compared the average EL and speed between days 2 and 6 of the training protocol. Speed was not improved during the trials unlike EL, suggesting that memory acquisition is independent of motor skills.Conclusion. These findings suggest that MT improves cognition and motor skills in the LF model.

Background: Preserved integrity of the corticospinal tract (CST) is a marker of good upper-limb behavior and recovery following stroke. However, there is less understanding of neural mechanisms that might help facilitate upper-limb motor recovery in stroke survivors with extensive CST damage. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate resting state functional connectivity in chronic stroke survivors with different levels of CST damage and to explore neural correlates of greater upper-limb motor performance in stroke survivors with compromised ipsilesional CST integrity. Methods: Thirty chronic stroke survivors (24 males, aged 64.7 ± 10.8 years) participated in this study. Three experimental sessions were conducted to: 1) obtain anatomical (T1, T2) structural (diffusion) and functional (resting state) MRI sequences, 2) determine CST integrity with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and conduct assessments of upper-limb behavior, and 3) reconfirm CST integrity status. Participants were divided into groups according to the extent of CST damage. Those in the extensive CST damage group did not show TMS evoked responses and had significantly lower ipsilesional fractional anisotropy. Results: Of the 30 chronic stroke survivors, 12 were categorized as having extensive CST damage. Stroke survivors with extensive CST damage had weaker functional connectivity in the ipsilesional sensorimotor network and greater functional connectivity in the ipsilesional fronto-parietal network compared to those with preserved CST integrity. For participants with extensive CST damage, improved motor performance was associated with greater functional connectivity of the ipsilesional fronto-parietal network and higher fractional anisotropy of the ipsilesional rostral superior longitudinal fasciculus. Conclusions: Stroke survivors with extensive CST damage have greater resting state functional connectivity of an ipsilesional fronto-parietal network that appears to be a behaviorally relevant neural mechanism that improves upper-limb motor performance.

Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by motor deficits related to structural changes in the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits. However, it is still unclear the exact nature of the association between grey matter alterations and motor symptoms.Therefore, the aim of our investigation was to identify the subcortical modifications associated with motor symptoms of PD over time - adopting voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and automated volumetry methods.We selected fifty subjects with PD from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database, who performed an MRI session at two time points: at baseline (i.e. at maximum 2 years after clinical diagnosis of PD) and after 48 months. Motor symptoms were assessed using the part III of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale at the two time points.Our VBM and volumetric analyses showed a general atrophy in all subcortical regions when comparing baseline with 48 months. These findings confirmed previous observations indicating a subcortical alteration over time in PD. Furthermore, our findings supported the idea that a reduced volume in the thalamus and an increased volume in pallidum may be related to the decline in motor skills. These structural modifications are in accordance with the functional model of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits controlling movements. Moreover, VBM and volumetry provided partially overlapping results, suggesting that these methods might capture complementary aspects of brain degeneration in PD.

This data article describes the hand skills of pre-school children between five and six years old from five schools under the Ministry of Education Malaysia. These data may be used in a journal article later to show the effects of touch-screen technology usage on hand skills of pre-school children. Demographic characteristics, hand skills ability and frequency of touch-screen technology usage data that was collected from August to September 2019. These data may be used in a future systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis to conclude the effects of touch-screen technology usage on children's hand skills. Parents, teachers and health practitioners may refer to these data to note the effects of touch-screen technology usage on hand skills of pre-school children.

Background: Fine motor skills are heritable and comprise important milestones in development, and some evidence suggests that impairments in fine motor skills are associated with neurodevelopmental conditions, psychiatric disorders, and poor educational outcomes., Methods: In a preregistered study of 9625 preschool children from TEDS (Twins Early Development Study), fine motor assessments (drawing, block building, folding, and questionnaires) were conducted at 2, 3, and 4 years of age. A cross-age fine motor score was derived using principal component analysis. Multivariate regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between the fine motor score and neurodevelopmental traits, psychopathology, and educational outcomes at 3 later ages (7-8, 12, and 16 years) and cross-age psychopathology composite scores. Polygenic scores (PGSs) were created for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, schizophrenia, anxiety, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and years of education. We ran single-PGS models and a multi-PGS model., Results: Fine motor skills were negatively associated with neurodevelopmental traits and psychopathology across childhood and adolescence and positively associated with educational achievement in adolescence (β = 0.25, p < .001). Superior fine motor skills were associated with a higher years-of-education PGS (β = 0.07, p < .001), a lower ADHD PGS (β = -0.04, p = .011), and a higher anxiety PGS (β = 0.03, p = .040). Similarly, the multi-PGS model retained the PGSs for years of education (β = 0.07), ADHD (β = -0.03), and anxiety (β = 0.01). A non-preregistered analysis in an independent preschool sample replicated the ADHD PGS association, but not the years of education or anxiety PGS associations., Conclusions: Fine motor skills are linked genetically and phenotypically to later neurodevelopment, psychopathology, and educational outcomes. Future work should investigate the mechanisms that underlie the role of fine motor development in later outcomes., (Copyright © 2023 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Motor Optimality Score-Revised (MOS-R) is a clinical test of infant spontaneous movement at 3-5 months of age and has been associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants with medical complexity. However the stability of the MOS-R tested at different developmental ages is not yet known., Aim: To determine if the repeated scoring of the MOS-R remained consistent when tested at two developmental ages in young infants., Study Design: In this prospective cohort study, infants were tested twice with the MOS-R between 12 and 13 weeks corrected age (CA) and 14-16 weeks CA. Bland Altman Plots were used to calculate agreement between the scores. Infants were grouped as having higher or lower medical complexity. MOS-R threshold scores were analyzed to assess changes over time within each group using Fisher's exact test., Subjects: 85 infants with history of hospitalization in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)., Results: The MOS-R scores had a high agreement with negligible bias (0.058) between timepoints (95 % CI -1.10, 1.22). Using a MOS-R cut point of 19, infants with higher medical complexity were more likely to change groups between timepoints than infants with lower medical complexity (p = 0.008), but this was not significantly different using cut points of 20 or 21., Conclusion: The MOS-R scores were stable when measured repeatedly in infants who were hospitalized in a NICU. Infants with high medical complexity had less stable MOS-R scores using certain cut points than infants with lower medical complexity., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Colleen Peyton is a member of the General Movements Trust speaker's bureau., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Different motor learning methods (explicit or analogy learning) show different effects on motor performance stability, and reinvestment propensity plays an important role in motor performance stability. This study aimed to explore whether reinvestment propensity, that is, movement self-consciousness (MS-C) and conscious motor processing (CMP) as two dimensions, played a moderating role in the relationship between motor learning methods and motor performance stability. A total of 78 participants were randomly assigned to either the explicit or analogy learning group and their reinvestment propensity was measured. We recorded the number of golf putt goals in both the practice phase and the test phases (including a retention test and a stress test). In the moderating analysis, participants' reinvestment propensity was the moderating variable, and the dependent variable was motor performance stability (i.e., the difference between the two test phases). Results showed that motor performance was significantly different between practicing blocks, which indicated that the motor performance of learners was gradually increasing. The significant interaction between learning methods and the test phase on motor performance was detected, suggesting under stress, analogy learning was more likely to maintain the stability of motor performance, while explicit learning impaired the stability of motor performance. The CMP played a significant moderating role in the relationship between motor learning methods and motor performance stability. The result indicated that for learners with low CMP, the motor performance stability of analogy learning was better than explicit learning, while there was no significant difference in the stability of motor performance between the two learning methods for learners with high reinvestment propensity. No significant evidence was found that MS-C played a moderating role in the relationship between motor learning methods and motor performance stability. These findings expand the theoretical framework of motor skill learning and provide theoretical support for motor performance stability., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Child development can be influenced by family and environmental factors, which changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it is important to explore how these factors are associated with the functioning of infants with biological risk in the first year of life., Objective: This study aimed to investigate associations between family factors, home opportunities, caregiver perception of environmental support and barriers at home and environmental factors during the COVID-19 pandemic and gross motor skills and home participation in infants with biological risk in the first year of life., Methods: Fifty-six infants aged two to 12 months (M = 5.80 months; ±2.44) and their mothers performed remote assessments of gross motor skills using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS); participation and environment (phone call) by the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM); family factors (income, age and maternal education), home opportunities - The Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development - Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS) and environmental factors during the COVID-19 pandemic (social distancing, emotional and financial factors and physiotherapy) (online forms). Regression models were constructed, considering gross motor skills and home participation as outcome variables, with a 5 % significance level., Results: We found that older maternal age (p = 0.001), more home opportunities (p = 0.043), and less rigorous social distancing (as opposed to total social distancing [p = 0.045]) were significantly associated with better gross motor skills; and higher maternal education (p = 0.050) was associated with more involvement in home activities., Conclusion: Family factors, home opportunities and social distancing were differently associated with the gross motor skills and home participation of infants with biological risk in the first year of life., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study examined proprioceptive acuity and its relationship with motor function in Mandarin-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). Fifteen children aged 9-12 years with DLD and 15 age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) children participated in this study. Children's motor function was assessed using the second edition of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2). Their proprioceptive acuity was measured based on the absolute error (i.e., proprioceptive bias) and variable error (i.e., proprioceptive precision) when performing joint position matching tasks. Compared with the TD group, the DLD group exhibited impaired motor function and poorer proprioceptive acuity, as evidenced by the lower scores on the MABC-2 and the higher rates of absolute and variable errors in the joint position matching tasks. A significant association between the proprioceptive bias (absolute error) and the MABC-2 total score was also observed in the combined cohort of children with and without DLD. We conclude that DLD is associated with proprioceptive dysfunction., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Clinical assessment procedures encounter challenges in terms of objectivity because they rely on subjective data. Computational psychiatry proposes overcoming this limitation by introducing biosignal-based assessments able to detect clinical biomarkers, while virtual reality (VR) can offer ecological settings for measurement. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder where many biosignals have been tested to improve assessment procedures. However, in ASD research there is a lack of studies systematically comparing biosignals for the automatic classification of ASD when recorded simultaneously in ecological settings, and comparisons among previous studies are challenging due to methodological inconsistencies. In this study, we examined a VR screening tool consisting of four virtual scenes, and we compared machine learning models based on implicit (motor skills and eye movements) and explicit (behavioral responses) biosignals. Machine learning models were developed for each biosignal within the virtual scenes and then combined into a final model per biosignal. A linear support vector classifier with recursive feature elimination was used and tested using nested cross-validation. The final model based on motor skills exhibited the highest robustness in identifying ASD, achieving an AUC of 0.89 (SD = 0.08). The best behavioral model showed an AUC of 0.80, while further research is needed for the eye-movement models due to limitations with the eye-tracking glasses. These findings highlight the potential of motor skills in enhancing objectivity and reliability in the early assessment of ASD compared to other biosignals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To (1) identify types of technology that promote motor ability in children younger than 5 years of age, (2) report on the type of support these devices provide, and (3) evaluate their potential for use in the community (outside of the laboratory or clinic). Data Sources: A literature search of PubMed was conducted in February 2019 using specific terms, including child, rehabilitation, movement, and instrumentation. Study Selection: The search yielded 451 peer-reviewed articles, which were screened by multiple reviewers. Articles that described the use of devices for the purpose of motor rehabilitation and/or assistance (regardless of device type or body part targeted) in the age range of 0-5 years were eligible for inclusion. Data Extraction: In conformity with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, final stage data extraction consisted of full text readings where each article was reviewed twice by 3 independent reviewers. Data Synthesis: About half of the devices available (46%) for children younger than 5 years of age are orthotics and corrective casting devices. There are more facilitative (ie, power mobility devices) than inhibitive (ie, casting) technologies being used. Approximately 60% of the devices are designed for use by a single body part. Walking is the most common motor skill addressed. Although most of the devices were used to some degree outside of the laboratory or clinic, most of the devices available are considered investigative and are not available for commercial purchase. Conclusions: Many types of pediatric devices to assist movement exist, but the current scope of employed devices is limited. There is a need for developing technology that allows for, if not supports, high-dosage, early, and variable motor practice that can take place in community settings.

Objective: to verify the relationship between the level of trunk control and the acquisition of gross motor skills in the first year of life., Methods: a searching strategy was developed using the PICO tool and performed in the databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, Virtual Library in Health, Embase, and Scopus, from September 2020 to July 2022. The methodological quality of the articles was evaluated by the Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale Cohort Studies (NOS)., Results: six studies that evaluated the level of trunk control and gross motor development in infants aged 4 to 12 months were found. Four studies evaluated full-term infants, and only two studies evaluated preterm infants comparing them to full-term ones. Five studies showed high methodological quality and one study, low methodological quality. Most studies found significant correlation between the levels of segmental trunk control (static, active, and reactive), by the Segmental Assessment Trunk Control (SATCo), and gross motor development (prone, supine, sitting, standing, and walking) by the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS)., Conclusion: trunk control is directly related to gross motor development in different postures in infants between 7 and 12 months., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Internal focus has been shown to be detrimental to performance by disrupting the motor system, whereas external focus enhances performance by promoting automaticity. One hypothesis, which explains the underlying mechanism of the disruption of the motor system, proposes that internal focus affects the type of thoughts (explicit rules) by invoking self-conscious, evaluative thoughts (McKay et al., 2015). In contrast, another hypothesis proposes that internal focus increases the number of explicit rules, loading working memory (Poolton et al., 2006). To examine the competing hypotheses, neurotypical young adults (22.98 ± 4.46 years old, n = 20 males, n = 40 females) were assigned to one of three groups: external focus (n = 20), internal focus (n = 20), and control (n = 20) groups, and practiced a reciprocal aiming task for two days with retention/transfer tests. Between trials, participant's thoughts were evaluated by an open-ended questionnaire. The type of explicit rules was analyzed using a chi-square test, and the number of explicit rules was analyzed using a mixed-effect Poisson regression. The results showed that external focus resulted in a greater proportion of explicit rules about the task and a lesser proportion of self-evaluative thoughts. The number of explicit rules did not differ between groups. Our results suggest that external focus may strengthen focus on task-relevant features, while internal focus moves people's attention away from important features, potentially explaining why the motor system is disrupted by internal focus., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

While capacity for motor skill acquisition changes with healthy aging, there has been little consideration of how age-related changes in brain function or baseline brain structure support motor skill acquisition. We examined: (1) age-dependent changes in functional reorganization related to frontoparietal regions during motor skill acquisition, and (2) whether capacity for motor skill acquisition relates to baseline white matter microstructure in frontoparietal tracts. Healthy older and younger adults engaged in 4 weeks of skilled motor practice. Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) assessed functional reorganization before and after practice. Diffusion tensor imaging indexed microstructure of a frontoparietal tract at baseline, generated by rsFC seeds. Motor skill acquisition was associated with decreases in rsFC in healthy older adults and increases in rsFC in healthy younger adults. Frontoparietal tract microstructure was lower in healthy older versus younger adults, yet it was negatively associated with rate of skill acquisition regardless of group. Findings indicate that age-dependent alterations in frontoparietal function and baseline structure of a frontoparietal tract reflect capacity for motor skill acquisition., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

An external focus of attention has been shown to enhance the performance and learning of motor skills, relative to an internal focus (see Chua, Jimenez-Diaz, Lewthwaite, Kim, & Wulf, 2021). In the present study, we examined possible motivational consequences of learners' experience of greater movement success with an external focus. Participants were asked to learn a golf pitch shot. In addition to measuring learning, we assessed self-efficacy, as well as positive and negative affect in groups that received external versus internal focus instructions. Furthermore, we examined the feasibility of providing several focus instructions in the same practice session as the learning of complex skills typically requires more than one instructional cue. The results showed that skill learning was enhanced by instructions that promoted external foci, as measured by golf shot accuracy on delayed retention and transfer tests. The external focus group also showed higher positive affect and reduced negative affect at the end of practice, and higher self-efficacy before retention testing, compared with the internal focus group. These findings provide support for several assumptions of the OPTIMAL theory (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016). From a practical perspective, they highlight the attentional and motivational benefits of an external focus., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report there are no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hyperbilirubinemia is a clinical picture frequently occurring in the neonatal period and may negatively affect the development of infants., Aims: To evaluate term infants with hyperbilirubinemia in terms of both motor development and sensory processing skills and to compare them with their healthy peers without hyperbilirubinemia., Study Design: A cross-sectional study., Subjects: Children born at term, aged 10-18 months, with and without a history of hyperbilirubinemia were included in the study., Outcome Measures: After demographic information was recorded, motor development was evaluated with the Peabody Motor Development Scale-2 and sensory processing skills were evaluated with the Test of Sensory Function in Infant., Results: A total of 42 children (mean ± SD age of the children 13.07 ± 1.47 months, 22 with hyperbilirubinemia and 20 without hyperbilirubinemia) were included in the study. A statistically significant difference was found in the gross motor (p = 0.02), fine motor (p = 0.03), and total motor (p = 0.017) development scores of the Peabody Motor Development Scale-2 and in the adaptive motor functions (p = 0.004), visual tactile integration (p < 0.001), and total scores (p = 0.004) of The Test of Sensory Function in Infant in favor of the control group., Conclusions: The motor and sensory processing skills of children born at term with hyperbilirubinemia may be negatively affected. Infants with hyperbilirubinemia should be evaluated from the early period not only in terms of motor but also sensory processing skills and should be supported with appropriate intervention programs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None declared., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Deviations occur in the neuropsychomotor development of premature infants; early interventions minimize delay motor. This study aimed to determine the effect of an interdisciplinary hospital-home intervention addressing motor development adaptation in premature infants in Colombia in comparison with traditional interventions., Methods: This study was based on a parallel design, with two groups, namely, experimental and control. The experimental group, hospital-home intervention (HHI) performed in two settings (i.e., hospital neonatal care units and homes), and the control group, traditional intervention, (TI) performed in institutions for premature infants. The sample will be composed of 130 randomly-allocated infants, 65 in the experimental group (HHI) and 65 in the control group (TI) of moderate to late preterm infants (gestational age between 34 and 37 weeks), weighing more than or equal to 1.800 g, who are hemodynamically stable and reside in the cities of Tunja and Bogotá-Colombia recruited between 2021 and 2022. For the pre- and post-intervention assessments, the TIMPSI and the CapDMP are the instruments used to assess motor development and the degree of parents' or caregivers' knowledge about motor development. The HHI is composed of 10 intervention strategies based on stimulation of motor development, performed twice a day for 10 min for two months, in combination with calls to a mobile device, using software (Baby Motor Skills) and an instant messaging system (WhatsApp)., Results: This hospital-home intervention program proposes an approach focused on the motor development of premature infants, based on sensory and motor stimulation strategies, in addition to follow-up performed at home with the use of a mobile application that improves the motor development of premature infants. Register Clinical Trial: NCT04563364., Conclusion: The HHI provides the opportunity to determine whether the individualized four-week from admission to follow up at home with parent training will improve the motor skills of premature infants., (Copyright © 2023 Taiwan Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Difficulties with praxis, the ability to perform learned skilled movements, have been robustly demonstrated in autism spectrum disorder (autism). However, praxis assessment is not routinely included in autism characterization batteries, in part because it is traditionally time consuming to administer and score. We test whether dyspraxia in autism can be captured with a brief measure., Method: Youth with autism ( n = 41) and matched typically developing controls ( n = 32), aged 8 to 16 years, completed a 5-minute praxis battery. The 19-item battery included four subtests: gesture to command, tool use, familiar imitation, and meaningless imitation. Video recordings were coded for error types and compared to participant characterization variables., Results: Consistent with research using a lengthy battery, autistic youth made more errors overall, with a large effect size. Groups demonstrated similar distributions of error types, suggesting that dyspraxia in autism is not limited to a particular error form. In the autism group, praxis was associated with adaptive functioning, but not autism traits., Conclusions: A shortened battery is sufficiently sensitive to praxis differences between autistic and typically developing youth, increasing the feasibility of including praxis within clinical assessments or larger research batteries aimed at testing relationships with downstream skills., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: The authors report no conflicts of interest. Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Contextual opportunities facilitate skill acquisition, and the interaction between individual and contextual factors is fundamental to enhancing health and social parameters in children with DCD. This study examined (1) the influence of Mastery Motivational Climate (MMC) and Exercise Play Climate (EPC) interventions on motor performance, physical activity, self-perceptions, BMI, engagement in the lessons, playtime, and screen time of children without and with DCD, (2) the relationship between motor performance, self-perceptions, BMI, engagement in the physical education lessons, playtime, and screen factors in the children's physical activity levels in the lessons (PA) pre-and post-test. Children (N = 255, 98 children with Developmental Coordination Disorder - DCD; 157 children without DCD) were randomly assigned to MMC and EPC. Physical Activity levels in the lessons, motor performance, self-perceptions of physical competence, body mass indexes, appropriate motor engagement with success in the lessons, and active play and screen time were assessed. Regarding intervention impact, from pre-to post-tests, the results showed increases (1) PA in children with DCD in the EPC group and without DCD in the MMC group; (2) locomotor and ball skills for children with DCD in both climates; (3) locomotor and ball skills for children without DCD in the MMC group; (4) self-perceptions of competence for children with DCD in the MMC group; and (5) engagement with success for all children in both climates. A slight decrease in BMI for children with DCD in both climates was found. Regarding the associations, at post-test, engagement with success explained (1) PA levels for children with DCD in the MMC group and children without DCD in the EPC group; (2) active playtime explained PA for children with DCD in the EPC group; (3) ball skills explained PA for children without DCD in the MMC group. The intervention promoted overall increases in motor performance and children's engagement in the lesson. The intervention strengthened the role of ball skills performance, engagement with success, and active play; however, these relationships were different across groups., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Objective: The objective of the present work was to study the relationship between the double burden of malnutrition and gross motor development in infants., Method: ology: Sample included 5900 infants under 24 months of age, participants of the ENSANUT-ECU study. To evaluate nutritional status, we calculated z-scores for body mass index/age (BAZ) and height/age (HAZ). Six gross motor milestones were considered: sitting without-support, crawling, standing and walking with-support, standing and walking without-support. Data was analysed using logistic regression models in R., Results: Independently form age, sex and other socio-economic factors, the probability of achieving three gross motor milestones was significantly lower among chronically undernourished infants compared to their peers: sitting without-support, crawling, and walking without-support. Compared to no malnourished infants the probability of sitting without-support at six months was 10% lower for chronically undernourished infants (0.70, 95%CI [0.64-0.75]; 0.60, 95%CI [0.52-0.67]; respectively). The probability of crawling at eight months and walking without-support at 12 months were also significantly lower among chronically undernourished infants (0.62, 95%CI [0.58-0.67]); 0.25, 95%CI [0.20-0.30]; respectively) in comparison to no malnourished infants (0.67, 95%CI [0.63-0.72]); 0.29, 95%CI [0.25-0.34]; respectively). Obesity/overweight was not associated with the achievement of gross motor milestones, except for sitting without-support. Chronically undernourished infants with low or high BMI/age were generally delayed in the achievement of gross motor milestones than their peers., Conclusions: Chronic undernutrition is related to delayed gross motor development. Public health measures are needed to be implemented to prevent the double burden of malnutrition and its detrimental effects on infant development., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Having learners practice a motor skill with the expectation of teaching it (versus an expectation of being tested on it) has been revealed to enhance skill learning. However, this improvement in skill performance is lost when the skill must be performed under psychological pressure due to 'choking under pressure.' The present study investigated whether this choking effect is caused by an accrual of declarative knowledge during skill practice and could be prevented if a technique (analogy instructions) to minimize the accrual of declarative knowledge during practice is employed., Design: We used a 2 (Expectation: teach/test) x 2 (Instructions: analogy/explicit) x 2 (Posttest: low-pressure/high-pressure) mixed-factor design, with repeated measures on the last factor., Methods: One-hundred fifty-six participants were quasi-randomly assigned (based on sex) to one of four groups. Participants in the teach/analogy and teach/explicit groups practiced golf putting with the expectation of teaching putting to another participant, and analogy instructions or explicit instructions, respectively. Participants in the test/analogy and test/explicit groups practiced golf putting with the expectation of being tested on their putting, and analogy instructions or explicit instructions, respectively. The next day all participants completed low- and high-pressure putting posttests, with their putting accuracy serving as the dependent variable., Results: We observed an Expectation x Instructions × Posttest interaction, such that a main effect of expectation was found in the low-pressure posttest, with the teach group exhibiting superior accuracy, and an Expectation × Instructions interaction was revealed for the high-pressure posttest. This interaction resulted from the teach group showing greater accuracy than the test group exclusively when receiving analogy instructions., Conclusion: Results show that participants who practiced with the expectation of teaching exhibited superior learning and indicate that they choked under pressure likely due to their accrual of declarative knowledge during practice, since the choking effect was prevented by having them practice with analogy instructions. Accordingly, having learners practice with the expectation of teaching and techniques that minimize the accrual of declarative knowledge is recommended., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To assess neurodevelopment in young patients with biliary atresia (BA) and to determine the predictive value of General Movement Assessment (GMA) at infant age for neurodevelopmental impairments at toddler age., Method: Infants diagnosed with BA were prospectively included in a longitudinal study. Neurodevelopmental status was previously assessed before Kasai porto-enterostomy (KPE) and one month after KPE using Prechtl's GMA, including motor optimality scores. At 2-3 years, neurodevelopment was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, and compared to the Dutch norm population. The predictive value of GMA at infant age for motor skills and cognition at toddler age was determined., Results: Neurodevelopment was assessed in 41 BA patients. At toddler age (n = 38, age 29 ± 5 months, 70 % liver transplantation), 13 (39 %) patients scored below-average on motor skills, and 6 (17 %) patients on cognition. Abnormal GMA after KPE predicted both below-average motor skills and cognitive score at toddler age (sensitivity, 91 % and 80 %; specificity 83 % and 67 %; negative predictive value, 94 % and 94 %; and, positive predictive value, 77 % and 33 %, resp.)., Interpretation: One-third of toddlers with BA show impaired motor skills. GMA post-KPE has a high predictive value to identify infants with BA at risk of neurodevelopmental impairments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest AF Bos is a tutor of the GM Trust, teaching the various patterns of general movements., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) indicates current and future health. Although preterm infants have an increased risk of poor grip strength in later life, its determinants and relationship with neurodevelopment are not well understood., Aims: To determine HGS in children born preterm and explore the relationship of HGS with demography, anthropometry, nutritional factors, and neurodevelopmental outcomes., Study Design: A prospective cohort study of moderate-late preterm babies enrolled in a randomised trial of nutritional support strategies, the DIAMOND trial., Subjects: A total of 116 children born between 32 and 35 weeks' gestation, whose HGS was measured at 2 years' corrected age., Outcome Measures: HGS was measured using a dynamometer, and neurodevelopment was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III. Anthropometry and body composition were assessed at birth, discharge, and at 4 months' and 2 years' corrected age. Information on demographics and breastfeeding practices, including type of milk at discharge and duration of exclusive breastfeeding, was collected using questionnaires., Results: The mean (standard deviation) HGS was 2.26 (1.07) kg. The Bayley scores were < 85 (-1 standard deviation) in 6 %, 20 %, and 1 % for the cognitive, language, and motor scales, respectively. Multiple regression analysis revealed that HGS was positively associated with language and motor scores (p < .05) after adjusting for confounding factors. HGS was not associated with sex, anthropometry, body composition, or breastfeeding practices. Maternal education was independently associated with HGS (p < .01)., Conclusions: HGS at age 2 years in children born moderate-late preterm is associated with language and motor development and maternal education level., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No conflicts to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed at investigating (1) the cognitive and motor predictors of divergent movement ability (DMA) in childhood and (2) the role of sport and enriched physical education (PE) experience. Participants were 165 fifth graders, aged 10-11 years, with different histories (onset and duration) of participation in enriched PE. They were assessed in cognitive/attentional and motor/sport skills and active play/sport habits at baseline, and six months later in DMA. Results of regression analyses showed an overall prediction of DMA by sport practice and a nuanced prediction of individual DMA indices (fluency, flexibility, originality) by decision making and spatial attention ability. Linear mixed models revealed better DMA in children exposed to enriched PE, with differential effects on DMA indices depending on its duration and earlier/later onset. The results identify novel cognitive determinants of children's DMA and suggest that sport practice and experience of designed enrichment in PE may benefit DMA., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: C.P., G.C. and R.M. received honoraria from Soremartec for developing and monitoring the enriched PE program and for training teachers. N.T. received honoraria for training teachers. However, their role in the research project granted by the corporate has not influenced the outcomes reported in this article. A.D.F., V.B., R.B. and M.S. had no involvement in securing the funding for this research and received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The funders had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Use of machine learning (ML) in the early detection of developmental delay is possible through the analysis of infant motor skills, though the large number of potential indicators limits the speed at which the system can be trained. Body joint obstructions, the inability to infer aspects of movement such as muscle tone and volition, and the complexities of the home environment - confound machine learning's ability to distinguish between some motor items. To train the system efficiently requires using an excerpted list of validated items, a salient set, which uses only those motor items that are the 'easiest' to see and identify, while being the most highly correlated to a low/qualifying score. This work describes the examination of motor items, selection of 15 items that comprise the salient set, and the ability of the set to reliably screen for motor delay in the first-year infant., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Motor learning experiments are typically performed in laboratory environments, which can be time-consuming and require dedicated equipment/personnel, thus limiting the ability to gather data from large samples. To address this problem, some researchers have transitioned to unsupervised online experiments, showing advantages in participant recruitment without losing validity. However, most online platforms require coding experience or time-consuming setups to create and run experiments, limiting their usage across the field., Method: To tackle this issue, an open-source web-based platform was developed (https://experiments.neurro-lab.engin.umich.edu/) to create, run, and manage procedural skill learning experiments without coding or setup requirements. The feasibility of the platform and the comparability of the results between supervised (n = 17) and unsupervised (n = 24) were tested in 41 naive right-handed participants using an established sequential finger tapping task. The study also tested if a previously reported rapid form of offline consolidation (i.e., microscale learning) in procedural skill learning could be replicated with the developed platform and evaluated the extent of interlimb transfer associated with the finger tapping task., Results: The results indicated that the performance metrics were comparable between the supervised and unsupervised groups (all p's > 0.05). The learning curves, mean tapping speeds, and micro-scale learning were similar to previous studies. Training led to significant improvements in mean tapping speed (2.22 ± 1.48 keypresses/s, p < 0.001) and a significant interlimb transfer of learning (1.22 ± 1.43 keypresses/s, p < 0.05)., Conclusions: The results show that the presented platform may serve as a valuable tool for conducting online procedural skill-learning experiments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Motor sequencing skills have been found to distinguish individuals who experience developmental stuttering from those who do not stutter, with these differences extending to non-verbal sequencing behaviour. Previous research has focused on measures of reaction time and practice under externally cued conditions to decipher the motor learning abilities of persons who stutter. Without the confounds of extraneous demands and sensorimotor processing, we investigated motor sequence learning under conditions of explicit awareness and focused practice among adults with persistent development stuttering. Across two consecutive practice sessions, 18 adults who stutter (AWS) and 18 adults who do not stutter (ANS) performed the finger-to-thumb opposition sequencing (FOS) task. Both groups demonstrated significant within-session performance improvements, as evidenced by fast on-line learning of finger sequences on day one. Additionally, neither participant group showed deterioration of their learning gains the following day, indicating a relative stabilization of finger sequencing performance during the off-line period. These findings suggest that under explicit and focused conditions, early motor learning gains and their short-term retention do not differ between AWS and ANS. Additional factors influencing motor sequencing performance, such as task complexity and saturation of learning, are also considered. Further research into explicit motor learning and its generalization following extended practice and follow-up in persons who stutter is warranted. The potential benefits of motor practice generalizability among individuals who stutter and its relevance to supporting treatment outcomes are suggested as future areas of investigation., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by biallelic mutations in the SMN1 (survival motor neuron 1) gene on chromosome 5q13.2, which leads to a progressive degeneration of alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord and in motor nerve nuclei in the caudal brainstem. It is characterized by progressive proximally accentuated muscle weakness with loss of already acquired motor skills, areflexia and, depending on the phenotype, varying degrees of weakness of the respiratory and bulbar muscles. Over the past decade, disease-modifying therapies have become available based on splicing modulation of the SMN2 with SMN1 gene replacement, which if initiated significantly modifies the natural course of the disease. Newborn screening for SMA has been implemented in an increasing number of centers; however, available evidence for these new treatments is often limited to a small spectrum of patients concerning age and disease stage., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: An individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has social skill, motor skill, and motion perception deficits. However, the relationship among them was not clarified. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of motor skills on social skills and motion perception., Methods: Five typically developed children and fourteen children with ASD participated in our study. The N200 component, a brain activity indicating motion perception, was induced in mid-temporal (MT/V5) brain area by watching a random dot kinematograph, and was recorded using a scalp electroencephalogram. Furthermore, the social responsiveness scale (SRS) indicating the social skill deficit, the developmental coordination disorder questionnaire (DCDQ) estimating the developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and the movement assessment battery for children second edition (MABC-2) indicating motor skills were recorded in the children with ASD. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the modulation effects of motor skills on the relationship between social skills and motion perception. The dependent variable was the N200 latency, and the independent variables were SRS, MABC-2, and combined MABC-2 and SRS., Results: The N200 latency was more delayed in children with ASD relative that in typically developed children. Intact balance ability modulated the relationship between social skills and N200 latency in children with ASD. Within the high balance ability, when the social skills worsened, the N200 latency was shortened., Conclusions: This is the first report that intact motor skills could modulate the relationship between social skills and motion perception., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Various levels of somatotopic organization are present throughout the human nervous system. However, this organization can change when needed based on environmental demands, a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity can occur when learning a new motor skill, adjusting to life after blindness, or following a stroke. Following an injury, these neuroplastic changes can be adaptive or maladaptive, and often occur regardless of whether rehabilitation occurs or not. But not all movements produce neuroplasticity, nor do all rehabilitation interventions. Here, we focus on research regarding how to maximize adaptive neuroplasticity while also minimizing maladaptive plasticity, known as applied neuroplasticity. Emphasis is placed on research exploring how best to apply neuroplastic principles to training environments and rehabilitation protocols. By studying and applying these principles in research and clinical practice, it is hoped that learning of skills and regaining of function and independence can be optimized., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)