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Motor Integration (motor + integration)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Are the cognitive functions of children with Down syndrome related to their participation?

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 1 2010
TANYA RIHTMAN
Aim, There is a lack of investigation into the functional developmental profile of children with Down syndrome. On the basis of current international health paradigms, the purpose of this study was to assess the developmental profile of these children. Method, Sixty children (33 males, 27 females) with Down syndrome (age range 6,16y; mean age 9y 3mo, SD 28.8mo), who had received standard, holistic, early intervention, were assessed. Of these, 42 (70%) had congenital anomalies, 12 had severe congenital heart defects. Participants were assessed on measures of cognitive function (Beery,Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual,Motor Integration; Stanford,Binet Intelligence Scale) and participation (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales). Results, No difference was found on any measure on the basis of severity of congenital anomaly. Results showed improvements in age-related body function and correlations between specific body functions and participation. No decline in IQ was found with age, and significant correlations between IQ and all other measures were noted. Although sex differences were found in the body functions of short-term memory and motor function, no difference in measures of activity performance and participation was found. Interpretation, Our findings emphasize the need for paediatric Down syndrome intervention to encourage improved body functions while emphasizing the acquisition of functional skills that enable enhanced participation in age-appropriate activities. [source]

A comparison of Canadian and Australian paediatric occupational therapists

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2005
AccOT Senior Lecturer, BScOT(Hons), Dr. G. Ted Brown PhD, OT(C)
Abstract Paediatric occupational therapists were surveyed regarding their practices in Canada and Australia. Two hundred and eighty-nine Canadian occupational therapists and 330 Australian occupational therapists participated representing response rates of 28.9% and 55% respectively. The majority of respondents were female (98%), between 30 and 49 years of age (69%), had a bachelor's degree, worked on average 10.5 years in paediatrics and spent well over 50% of their work time in direct client care. The largest client diagnostic groups in both countries were those with developmental delays, learning disabilities and neurological disorders. Diagnostic groups were used as an organizing framework to portray theory, assessment and intervention use. Overall, the theoretical models cited most frequently in both countries were: Sensory Integration, Sensory Processing/Sensory Diet, Client-Centred Practice, and Occupational Performance Model. Australian therapists employed the Occupational Performance Model (Australia) for all groups, while it was rarely utilized in Canada. Common assessment tools in both Australia and Canada were the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Intervention methods focused on: parental/care-giver education; activities of daily living/self-care skills training; client education; environmental modification; assistive devices; sensory integration techniques; sensory stimulation and sensory diet treatment methods; and neurodevelopmental techniques. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Modulation of spinal inhibitory reflex responses to cutaneous nociceptive stimuli during upper limb movement

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 3 2008
Romildo Don
Abstract In the present study we investigated the probability, latency and duration of the inhibitory component of the withdrawal reflex elicited by painful electrical stimulation of the index finger in humans. The stimulus consisted of a train of high-intensity pulses. The investigation was carried out in several upper limb muscles during isometric contractions of different strengths and during a motor sequence consisting of reaching, picking up and transporting an object. We used a new algorithm to detect and characterize the inhibitory reflex. The reflex was found in all muscles except the brachioradialis at all the isometric contraction strengths, and showed a distal-to-proximal gradient of latency and duration. Conversely, during movement the reflex probability was high (> 80%) in the anterior deltoid and triceps muscles during reaching, in the extensor carpi radialis muscle during transporting of the object, and in the first interosseous muscle during both picking up and transporting of the object. This modulation of inhibitory reflex transmission in the upper limb muscles suggests that the motor response is organized in such a way as to inhibit the overall ongoing motor task by interrupting motion during reaching and by releasing the object during transporting. This pattern of modulation appears to differ markedly from that previously reported for the excitatory component of the withdrawal reflex. Study of the nociceptive inhibitory reflexes during movement offers new and more profound insights into the functional anatomical organization of the spinal interneuronal network mediating sensory,motor integration. [source]

Predicting school adjustment from motor abilities in kindergarten

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2007
Orit Bart
Abstract The present study assessed the relations between basic motor abilities in kindergarten and scholastic, social, and emotional adaptation in the transition to formal schooling. Seventy-one five-year-old kindergarten children were administered a battery of standard assessments of basic motor functions. A year later, children's adjustment to school was assessed via a series of questionnaires completed by the children and their class teachers. The results indicate that in addition to the already documented association between visual,motor integration and academic achievement, other motor functions show significant predictive value to both scholastic adaptation and social and emotional adjustment to school. The results further suggest a better prediction of scholastic adaptation and level of disruptive behaviour in school when using an aggregate measure of children's ability in various motor domains than when using assessments of singular motor functions. It is concluded that good motor ability may serve as a buffer to the normative challenges presented to children in the transition to school. In contrast, poor motor ability emerges as a vulnerability factor in the transition to formal schooling. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Handwriting: what do we know and what do we need to know?

LITERACY, Issue 1 2007
Jane Medwell
Abstract Handwriting has a low status and profile in literacy education in England and in recent years has attracted little attention from teachers, policy-makers or researchers into mainstream educational processes. This article identifies a substantial programme of research into handwriting, including studies located in the domains of special needs education and psychology, suggesting that it is time to re-evaluate the importance of handwriting in the teaching of literacy. Explorations of the way handwriting affects composing have opened up new avenues for research, screening and intervention, which have the potential to make a significant contribution to children's progress in learning to write. In particular, the role of orthographic motor integration and automaticity in handwriting is now seen as of key importance in composing. Evidence from existing studies suggests that handwriting intervention programmes may have a real impact on the composing skills of young writers. In particular, they could positively affect the progress of the many boys who struggle with writing throughout the primary school years. [source]

Impaired heteronymous somatosensory motor cortical inhibition in dystonia

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 11 2003
Laura Bertolasi MD
Abstract A typical pathophysiological abnormality in dystonia is cocontraction of antagonist muscles, with impaired reciprocal inhibitory mechanisms in the spinal cord. Recent experimental data have shown that inhibitory interactions between antagonist muscles have also a parallel control at the level of the sensorimotor cortex. The aim of this work was to study heteronymous effects of a median nerve stimulus on the corticospinal projections to forearm muscles in dystonia. We used the technique of antagonist cortical inhibition, which assesses the conditioning effect of median nerve afferent input on motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in ipsilateral forearm extensor muscles at rest. Nine healthy subjects and 10 patients with torsion dystonia participated in the study. MEPs and somatosensory evoked potentials were normal in patients. In healthy subjects, median nerve stimulation at 15- to 18-msec intervals inhibited the test MEPs in forearm extensors. In dystonic patients, median nerve stimulation delivered at the same conditioning,test intervals elicited significantly less inhibition of the test MEP. On the whole, these data suggest an impaired sensory,motor integration in dystonia and, more specifically, the decreased antagonistic cortical inhibition could suggest that functional interactions between antagonist muscles are primarily impaired at the cortical level. © 2003 Movement Disorder Society [source]