Cortical activity during online motor control in children with and without developmental coordination disorder: a cross-sectional functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

• Published in: Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation 2024-09, Vol.21 (1), p.160-10, Article 160
• Main Authors: Huang, Quting, Yeung, Michael K, Fong, Kenneth N K, Chien, Chi-Wen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cerebral circulation; Cerebral cortex; Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology; Child; Children; Cortical activity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Developmental coordination disorder; Diagnosis; Diseases; Female; Functional near-infrared spectroscopy; Health aspects; Hemodynamics; Hemodynamics - physiology; Humans; Male; Motor Skills Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Motor Skills Disorders - physiopathology; Neurological research; Online motor control; Parietal cortex; Physiological aspects; Psychomotor disorders; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared - methods
• ISSN: 1743-0003; 1743-0003
• DOI: 10.1186/s12984-024-01465-z

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have impaired online motor control. Researchers posit that this impairment could be due to a deficit in utilizing the internal model control process. However, there is little neurological evidence to support this view because few neuroimaging studies have focused specifically on tasks involving online motor control. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the differences in cortical hemodynamic activity during an online movement adjustment task between children with and without DCD. Twenty children with DCD (mean age: 9.88 ± 1.67 years; gender: 14M/6F) and twenty age-and-gender matched children with typical development (TD) (mean age: 9.87 ± 1.59 years; gender: 14M/6F) were recruited via convenience sampling. Participants performed a double-step reaching task under two conditions (with and without online adjustment of reaching). Cortical hemodynamic activity during task in ten regions of interest, including bilateral primary somatosensory cortex, primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, superior parietal cortex, and inferior parietal cortex was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. In the analyses, change in oxyhemoglobin (ΔHbO) concentration was used to characterize hemodynamic response. Two-way analyses of variance were conducted for each region of interest to compare hemodynamic responses between groups and conditions. Additionally, Pearson's r correlations between hemodynamic response and task performance were performed. Outcome showed that children with DCD required significantly more time to correct their reaching movements compared to the control group (t = 3.948, P