RESUMEN
We have previously reported beneficial effects of acute (i.e., single session) Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) on manual dexterity and cognitive planning ability in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS). In the present study, we report the chronic effects of eight weeks of ACT, voluntary cycling (VC), and no cycling (NC), on the same measures in adolescents with DS. Participants completed 8 weeks of ACT, VC, or NC. Those in the ACT and VC groups completed 30min sessions three times per week on a stationary bicycle. During ACT, the mechanical motor of the bicycle augmented the cadence to a rate which was on average 79% faster than the voluntary cadence. During VC, the participants pedaled at a self-selected rate. Unimanual dexterity scores as measured with the Purdue Pegboard test (PPT) improved significantly more for the ACT and VC groups compared to the NC group. ACT lead to greater improvements than VC and NC in the assembly sub-test, which is a task that requires more advanced temporal and spatial processing. The ACT group improved significantly more than the VC group and non-significantly more than the NC group in cognitive planning ability as measured by the Tower of London test (ToL). There were also significant correlations between the assembly subtest of the PPT and all measures of the ToL. These correlations were stronger during post-testing than pre-testing. Pre-post changes in the combined PPT score and ToL number of correct moves correlated positively in the ACT group. These results support the efficacy of the salutary effects of ACT on global fine motor function and executive function in DS. Additionally, the performance on complex bimanual dexterity tasks appears to be related to the capacity of cognitive planning ability. This research has important implications for persons with movement deficits that affect activities of daily living.
Asunto(s)
Ciclismo , Cognición , Síndrome de Down/rehabilitación , Terapia por Ejercicio/métodos , Destreza Motora , Adolescente , Síndrome de Down/fisiopatología , Síndrome de Down/psicología , Función Ejecutiva , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
The authors' aim was to understand how persons with Down syndrome (DS) perform different tasks and to assess if there were any differences in performance based on the type of instructions. This is important because of neurological differences in persons with DS and neurological demands for performing different types of tasks. Twenty right-handed participants with DS, 20 chronological age-matched (CA), and 20 mental age-matched (MA) performed unimanual, bimanual, discrete, and continuous drumming following visual, auditory, and verbal instructions. Overall, discrete drumming was performed with shorter movement times than continuous drumming and unimanual drumming was performed with shorter movement amplitude than bimanual drumming. With respect to instructions, persons with DS performed with smaller amplitudes, thus more efficient movements, following the visual instructions than auditory and verbal instructions for all types of tasks, whereas CA performed similarly with all instructions and MA performed with smaller amplitudes with visual instructions than auditory instructions. These results suggest that visual instruction provides the best information for people with DS to aid in performance of many different types of movements.
Asunto(s)
Síndrome de Down/rehabilitación , Destreza Motora/fisiología , Movimiento/fisiología , Adolescente , Niño , Síndrome de Down/psicología , Femenino , Lateralidad Funcional/fisiología , Humanos , Pruebas de Inteligencia , Aprendizaje , Masculino , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Perception of affordances research in children with developmental disabilities has only examined well practiced skills. Ten toddlers with Down syndrome and 10 with typical development walked across a GAITRite mat, with and without an obstacle. We coded the toddlers' behaviors after 1 and 3 months of walking experience when they encountered the obstacle (avoid, crawl, error and walk successfully) and calculated gait parameters (step length, width, and velocity). Both groups actively explored their affordances. Despite similar decreases in step length and velocity when approaching the obstacle, toddlers with Down syndrome were more likely to select successful but conservative crawling strategies that minimized balance requirements and reduced risk of falling. Group differences were due to risk management rather than difficulty perceiving affordances.
Asunto(s)
Síndrome de Down/psicología , Actividad Motora , Percepción , Caminata/psicología , Preescolar , Discapacidades del Desarrollo/psicología , Femenino , Marcha , Humanos , Lactante , Locomoción , MasculinoRESUMEN
Examining the effects of diapers and other external constraints on infants' leg movements may affect how we collect motor control research data, dress infants to allow optimal movement in the home, and administer therapeutic interventions for infants with motor impairments. To address this issue we supported 12 healthy infants (2-4 months) on an infant-sized treadmill in each of four conditions: wearing nothing (None), a swim diaper (Swim), a disposable diaper (Diaper), or a combination of diaper and research recording equipment (All). We recorded the trials with a digital video camera and behavior coded number of steps and step type (alternating, parallel, double, or single steps) to assess both quantity and quality of movements. Infants produced similar numbers of steps in a predominantly alternating step pattern (high quality) during the None, Swim and Diaper conditions, but both quantity and quality of stepping decreased in the All condition. Our results suggest that diapers alone do not alter stepping patterns significantly, but sufficient additional weight and clothing beyond the diaper can affect movement frequency and quality in young infants.
Asunto(s)
Vestuario/psicología , Inhibición Psicológica , Actividad Motora , Movimiento , Restricción Física/psicología , Análisis de Varianza , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Masculino , Valores de ReferenciaRESUMEN
The authors present a dynamical multilevel model that captures changes over time in the bidirectional, potentially asymmetric influence of 2 cyclical processes. S. M. Boker and J. Graham's (1998) differential structural equation modeling approach was expanded to the case of a nonlinear coupled oscillator that is common in bimanual coordination studies in which participants swing hand-held pendulums but is also applicable to social systems in general. The authors' nonlinear coupled oscillator model decomposed the fluctuations into a competitive component, unique to each individual variable, and a cooperative component that captured bidirectional influence. The authors' model also generated an index of the symmetry/asymmetry of bidirectional influence. Together, the models are useful quantitative tools for the study of interacting, changing processes.