Relationship between reaction time, fine motor control, and visual-spatial perception on vigilance and visual-motor tasks in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.
Kids with 22q11DS need speed practice, not more drawing drills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team compared the kids with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome to two control groups: typically developing kids and kids with low IQ but no genetic syndrome.
Each child took four short tasks. Two were untimed: copy a drawing and tap a key when a light flashed. Two were timed: trace a maze quickly and watch a screen for rare targets.
The goal was to see if slow performance came from poor visual-motor skill or from slow thinking-moving speed.
What they found
On untimed drawing and simple reaction tests, all three groups scored the same.
When the clock was running, the 22q11 group finished fewer maze steps and missed more targets than both control groups.
The gap vanished once time pressure was removed, pointing to psychomotor speed as the culprit, not weak visual-motor integration.
How this fits with other research
Schneider et al. (2016) later showed teens with 22q11 struggle to juggle two tasks at once, linking slow speed to real-life adaptive problems. Together the studies build a chain: slow psychomotor speed → poor multitasking → lower daily living skills.
Cummings et al. (2024) proved you can capture the same speed deficits with a remote neurocognitive battery, so you don’t need a lab to spot the issue.
At first glance Sáez-Suanes et al. (2023) seems to disagree. They found both 22q11 deletion and duplication carriers show wide neurocognitive loss, not just speed. The difference is scope: A et al. zoomed in on timed versus untimed motor tasks, while P et al. used a broad battery that averaged many domains. Both can be true—speed is the leading edge, but other deficits ride along.
Why it matters
Stop drilling more tracing worksheets. Give extra time or add timed speed games instead. Remote tools like the Penn CNB now let you track progress from home. Pair speed checks with multitasking probes to see which daily tasks actually trip the child up. Target psychomotor speed first, then layer on complex skills once the child can think and move fast enough to keep up.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) is a common microdeletion disorder associated with mild to moderate intellectual disability and specific neurocognitive deficits, particularly in visual-motor and attentional abilities. Currently there is evidence that the visual-motor profile of 22q11DS is not entirely mediated by intellectual disability and that these individuals have specific deficits in visual-motor integration. However, the extent to which attentional deficits, such as vigilance, influence impairments on visual motor tasks in 22q11DS is unclear. This study examines visual-motor abilities and reaction time using a range of standardised tests in 35 children with 22q11DS, 26 age-matched typically developing (TD) sibling controls and 17 low-IQ community controls. Statistically significant deficits were observed in the 22q11DS group compared to both low-IQ and TD control groups on a timed fine motor control and accuracy task. The 22q11DS group performed significantly better than the low-IQ control group on an untimed drawing task and were equivalent to the TD control group on point accuracy and simple reaction time tests. Results suggest that visual motor deficits in 22q11DS are primarily attributable to deficits in psychomotor speed which becomes apparent when tasks are timed versus untimed. Moreover, the integration of visual and motor information may be intact and, indeed, represent a relative strength in 22q11DS when there are no time constraints imposed. While this may have significant implications for cognitive remediation strategies for children with 22q11DS, the relationship between reaction time, visual reasoning, cognitive complexity, fine motor speed and accuracy, and graphomotor ability on visual-motor tasks is still unclear.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.03.023