Mirror neuron system activation in children with developmental coordination disorder: A replication functional MRI study.
Mirror-neuron activity looks normal in kids with DCD, so shift therapy toward motor practice, not brain-based excuses.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team scanned kids’ brains while they copied hand and finger moves.
All kids first took the Movement ABC-2 to see who had developmental coordination disorder.
The study repeated an earlier fMRI test to check if mirror-neuron hype holds up.
What they found
Kids with DCD lit up the same mirror-neuron spots as typical kids.
Only tiny, non-mirror areas differed during imitation.
Bottom line: mirror system looks normal in DCD.
How this fits with other research
Wagner et al. (2011) and Schulz et al. (2011) already showed the M-ABC-2 is solid; this paper used that same tool to pick the kids it scanned.
Soloveichick et al. (2020) got great motor gains by teaching tiny babies to imitate moves—so imitation practice helps, yet the current study says the brain hardware is fine.
Together the papers hint the problem is not broken mirror neurons; it is how kids use them.
Why it matters
You can stop blaming mirror-neuron “deficits” for clumsy clients.
Focus therapy on practice, feedback, and breaking tasks into steps.
Keep using the M-ABC-2 to track progress; the score changes will reflect skill, not brain fixes.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesised that abnormal functioning of the mirror neuron system (MNS) may lead to deficits in imitation and the internal representation of movement, potentially contributing to the motor impairments associated with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). AIMS: Using fMRI, this study examined brain activation patterns in children with and without DCD on a finger adduction/abduction task during four MNS activation states: observation; motor imagery; execution; and imitation. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Nineteen boys (8.25-12.75 years) participated, including 10 children with DCD (≤16th percentile on MABC-2; no ADHD/ASD), and nine typically developing controls (≥25th percentile on MABC-2). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Even though children with DCD displayed deficits behaviourally on imitation (Sensory Integration & Praxis Test Subtests) and motor imagery assessments prior to scanning, no differences in MNS activation were seen between the DCD and control groups at a neurological level, with both groups activating mirror regions effectively across conditions. Small clusters of decreased activation during imitation were identified in non-mirror regions in the DCD group, including the thalamus, caudate, and posterior cingulate - regions involved in motor planning and attentional processes. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The results of this study do not provide support for the MNS dysfunction theory as a possible causal mechanism for DCD. Further research to explore attentional and motor planning processes and how they may interact at a network level may enhance our understanding of this complex disorder.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2019 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.11.012