Coupling online control and inhibitory systems in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Goal-directed reaching.
Kids with DCD need more time and split steps when they must stop a reach and fix it mid-move.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ruddock et al. (2015) watched kids with and without DCD reach for a target.
Sometimes the target jumped left or right mid-reach.
Kids also had to stop their reach if a red light flashed.
The team timed how fast each child fixed the reach or stopped it.
What they found
Kids with DCD moved slower and fixed their reach later than peers.
The gap was biggest when they had to stop and re-start in the same move.
Older kids with DCD did better, but still lagged behind.
How this fits with other research
Walker et al. (2013) saw a similar left-hand drag in a tapping task.
Their result looked “positive” because kids improved across trials, yet the DCD group never caught up.
Jelsma et al. (2015) also found slower learning on a Wii balance board.
All three lab studies line up: DCD means slower online fixes, not zero learning.
Why it matters
When you ask a child with DCD to inhibit and adjust at once, give extra time.
Break the task: stop first, then re-aim.
Use visual cues early, before the reach starts.
Expect age gains, but plan more practice trials than for typical peers.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
For children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), the real-time coupling between frontal executive function and online motor control has not been explored despite reported deficits in each domain. The aim of the present study was to investigate how children with DCD enlist online control under task constraints that compel the need for inhibitory control. A total of 129 school children were sampled from mainstream primary schools. Forty-two children who met research criteria for DCD were compared with 87 typically developing controls on a modified double-jump reaching task. Children within each skill group were divided into three age bands: younger (6-7 years), mid-aged (8-9), and older (10-12). Online control was compared between groups as a function of trial type (non-jump, jump, anti-jump). Overall, results showed that while movement times were similar between skill groups under simple task constraints (non-jump), on perturbation (or jump) trials the DCD group were significantly slower than controls and corrected trajectories later. Critically, the DCD group was further disadvantaged by anti-jump trials where inhibitory control was required; however, this effect reduced with age. While coupling online control and executive systems is not well developed in younger and mid-aged children, there is evidence of age-appropriate coupling in older children. Longitudinal data are needed to clarify this intriguing finding. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.10.013