In the light of emerging suggestions that language and motor deŽ cits may co-occur, the literature on speciŽ c language impairment (SLI) was reviewed to investigate the prevalence of co-morbidity between SLI and poor limb motor skill in children diagnosed with language impairments. An extensive literature search was undertaken and the subsequent Ž ndings evaluated with particular reference to i...

Recent research shows that motor difficulties are a prominent component of the behavioral profile of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and are also apparent from early in development in infants who have an older sibling with ASD (High Risk; HR). Delays have been reported for HR infants who do and who do not receive an eventual diagnosis of ASD. A growing body of prospective studies has focused on ...

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) fail to acquire adequate motor skill, yet surprisingly little is known about the oculomotor system in DCD. Successful completion of motor tasks is supported by accurate visual feedback. The purpose of this study was to determine whether any oculomotor differences can distinguish between children with and without a motor impairment. Using e...

BACKGROUND many clinicians and researchers in Brazil consider the Neurological Developmental Exam (NDE), a valid and reliable assessment for Brazilian school-aged children. However, since its inception, several tests have emerged that, according to some researchers, provide more in-depth evaluation of motor ability and go beyond the detection of general motor status (soft neurological signs). ...

BACKGROUND Children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience delays in acquiring competence completing fundamental motor skills. The effects of augmented prescriptive knowledge of performance feedback (PKP) have not been explored as a possible component solution. AIMS The purpose of this study was to test the motor learning effects of KP among boys with ADHD. ME...

BACKGROUND Spoken and gestural communication proficiency varies greatly among autistic individuals. Three studies examined the role of oral- and manual-motor skill in predicting autistic children's speech development. METHODS Study 1 investigated whether infant and toddler oral- and manual-motor skills predict middle childhood and teenage speech fluency; Study 2 verified those early infant an...

When rats learn a motor skill, synaptic potentials in the motor cortex are enhanced. A new study has revealed that this learning-induced enhancement limits further synaptic potentiation, but not synaptic depression. These findings support the view that activity-dependent synaptic plasticity is the brain's memory mechanism.

The ability to learn novel motor skills has fundamental importance for adaptive behavior. Neocortical mechanisms support human motor skill learning, from simple practice to adaptation and arbitrary sensory-motor associations. Behavioral and neural manifestations of motor learning evolve in time and involve multiple structures across the neocortex. Modifications of neural properties, synchrony a...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder, known to cause a large number of motor and non-motor limitations. Research related to factors that affect motor control and learning in people with PD is still relatively limited. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of different frequencies (100 versus 66%) of knowledge of results (KR) on the learning of a motor s...