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Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) presents challenges in motor control. DCD affects tasks such as walking and running and is characterized by poor interlimb coordination and increased spatiotemporal variability compared to typically developing children (TDC). While auditory rhythm synchronization has shown to have benefits for gait performance in adults, its impact on children with DCD during walking and running remains unclear. This study investigated auditory-motor synchronization and interlimb coordination during walking and running in children with and without DCD. Twenty-one DCD and 23 TDC participants aged 8-12 years walked and ran to two different auditory metronomes (discrete and continuous). Synchronization consistency was the primary outcome, with interlimb coordination and spatiotemporal variability as secondary outcomes. Results showed that children with DCD exhibited significantly lower synchronization consistency than TDC, particularly during running. The metronome structure did not influence synchronization ability. Additionally, interlimb coordination differed significantly between DCD and TDC during running and was not impacted by auditory-motor synchronization. Spatiotemporal variability was higher in DCD during both walking and running than in TDC, and accentuated during running. Variability of cadence was influenced by the use of continuous metronomes, which may offer potential benefits in reducing cadence variability., (© 2024 The Author(s). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The New York Academy of Sciences.)

Given the prevalence of motor and cognitive functions in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), we proposed that the theoretical framework of embodiment could provide a rehabilitation avenue to train these functions as one functional unit. PwMS (n = 31) and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 30) underwent an embodied learning protocol. This involved learning a cognitive sequence while performing it through bodily stepping movement under three feedback conditions (melody, sound, and visual). Cognitive and movement performance was assessed by a delayed recall 15 min after undergoing the embodied learning protocol. Half of participants correctly recalled the sequence in all three conditions, while 70% of healthy controls achieved correct recall within the melody condition. Balance impairment predicted the speed of executing the sequence irrespective of learning, most apparent in the melody condition. Information processing speed predicted the speed of executing the sequence in the melody and sound conditions between participants as well as over time. Those who learned performed the sequence faster in the melody condition only and overall were faster over time. We propose how embodied learning could expand the current context of rehabilitation of cognitive and motor control in PwMS., (© 2022 New York Academy of Sciences.)

Motor sequence learning in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and healthy controls (HC) under implicit or explicit learning conditions has not yet been investigated in a stepping task. Given the prevalent cognitive and mobility impairments in pwMS, this is important in order to understand motor learning processes and optimize rehabilitation strategies. Nineteen pwMS (the Expanded Disability Status Scale = 3.4 ± 1.2) and 18 HC performed a modified serial reaction time task by stepping as fast as possible on a stepping tile when it lit up, either with (explicit) or without (implicit) knowledge of the presence of a sequence beforehand. Motor sequence learning was studied by examining response time changes and differences between sequence and random blocks during the learning session (acquisition), 24 h later (retention), and in three dual-task (DT) conditions at baseline and retention (automaticity) using subtracting sevens, verbal fluency, and vigilance as concurrent cognitive DTs. Response times improved and were lower for the sequenced compared with the random blocks at the post- and retention tests (P's < 0.001). Response times during DT conditions improved after learning, but DT cost improved only for the subtracting sevens DT condition. No differences in learning were observed between learning conditions or groups. This study showed motor sequence learning, by acquisition and retention, in a stepping task in pwMS with motor impairments, to a similar degree as HC and regardless of learning conditions. Whether automaticity increased remains unclear., (© 2021 New York Academy of Sciences.)

Evidence for using auditory-motor coupling in neurological rehabilitation to facilitate walking is increasing. However, the distinction between spontaneous and intended coupling and its underlying mechanisms is yet to be investigated. In this study, we include 30 persons with multiple sclerosis and 30 healthy controls (HCs) in an experiment with two sessions in which participants were asked to walk to music with various tempi, matching their preferred walking cadence (PWC) up to 10% above in incremental steps of 2%. In the first session, no instructions were given to synchronize. In the second, participants were instructed to synchronize steps to the beats. Spontaneous synchronization was possible at 0% and +2% of the PWC, and fewer persons with multiple sclerosis were able to do so compared with HCs. Instruction was needed to synchronize at above +2% tempo in all participants. In the instructed session, the +6% condition marked a cutoff for cognitively impaired persons, as they were no longer able to synchronize. Based on our findings, we constructed a model illustrating that spontaneous entrainment is limited, operating during spontaneous coupling at only 0% and +2% of the PWC, and that at a higher tempo, entrainment requires intentional synchronization, with an active cognitive control mechanism., (© 2019 New York Academy of Sciences.)