Mijna  Hadders-Algra

Albert  Gramsbergen

Discussion: Significance and Treatment of Clumsiness in Children

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluatethe effectiveness of a Neuromotor TaskTraining (NTT), recently developed for thetreatment of children with DevelopmentalCoordination Disorder (DCD) by pediatricphysical therapists in the Netherlands. NTT isa task-oriented treatment program basedupon recent insights from motor control andmotor learning research. Ten children withDCD (intervention group) were tested beforeand after 9 and 18 treatment sessions on theMovement ABC and a dysgraphia scale inorder to measure the effectiveness oftreatment on gross and fine motor skills ingeneral and handwriting in particular. Fivechildren (no-treatment control group) weretested twice with a time lag of nine weeks onthe Movement ABC in order to measurespontaneous improvement. No improvementwas measured for the children in the notreatmentcontrol group, whereas a significantimprovement was found for children in theintervention group for both quality ofhandwriting and performance on theMovement ABC after 18 treatment sessions.

M. M. Schoemaker

A. S. Niemeijer

K.  Reynders

B. C. M. Smits-Engelsman

Effectiveness of Neuromotor Task Training for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Pilot Study

Cerebellar abnormalities have been linked toa number of developmental disorders. Muchevidence is based on the analysis of highresolutionMRI scans. Imaging and behavioralstudies have led researchers to considerfunctional contributions of the cerebellumbeyond that associated with motor control. Ireview this literature, providing an analysis ofdifferent ways to consider the relation betweencerebellar abnormalities and developmentaldisorders. Interestingly, although clumsiness is aproblem of coordination, the contribution ofcerebellar dysfunction to this developmentalproblem has received little attention. Selectstudies indicate that some clumsy children havedifficulties on tasks requiring precise timing,similar to that observed in adult patients withcerebellar lesions. I suggest that the underlyingneural bases of clumsiness are heterogeneous,with cerebellar dysfunction likely a majorcontributor for a subpopulation of such children.

Richard B. Ivry

Cerebellar Involvement in Clumsiness and OtherDevelopmental Disorders

Cerebellar functioning has been implied in
the fine adjustments of muscle tone, in the
coordination and the feed-forward control of
movements and posture, as well as in the
establishment and performance of motor skills.
The cerebellar cortex in mammals develops late
in neuro-ontogeny and an extrapolation from
experimental results indicates that in the
human the proliferation of the granule cells and
the development of circuitry in the cerebellar
cortex starts only in the last trimester of
pregnancy and lasts until beyond the first
birthday. This late development makes the
cerebellar development particularly vulnerable
to situations like an insufficient supply of
nutrients, which may follow placental dysfunction,
or to side effects of pharmacological
treatments like the administration of corticosteroids
in the postnatal period. We studied
whether such situations might also lead to
motor impairments. In rats, the effects of
undernutrition during the brain growth spurt
were investigated as well as those of
corticosteroids administered in a period that is
analogous to the <mml:math id="E1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mn>7</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>th</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> to <mml:math id="E2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mn>8</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>th</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> month of pregnancy
in the human. Both these interferences affect
cerebellar development and our results in rats
indicate that they also lead to retardations in
the, emergence of certain reflexes, as well as to
longer lasting motor impairments during
locomotion. Extrapolation of these results
strongly suggests that a disturbed cerebellar
development should be considered as an
important etiological factor in clumsiness in
human children.

Albert Gramsbergen

Clumsiness and Disturbed Cerebellar Development: Insights From Animal Experiments

In the last decade, expanding animal studieson the cerebral organization of reward processingtoward human in vivo situations has becomepossible. In this review, we define some of theconcepts associated with reward, summarize thecrucial importance of the dopaminergic system,and discuss the currently available neuroimagingstudies in man. We will show thatabstract concepts of human behavior likeemotions, drive, arousal, and reinforcement arenow open for further exploration in man at thelevel of neuronal circuit organization. Thecerebral dopaminergic neurotransmitter circuitrydoes play an important role in the organizationof both the motor and motivational system.

M.  Keitz

C.  Martin-Soelch

K. L. Leenders

Reward Processing in the Brain: A Prerequisite for Movement Preparation&#0063;

This paper briefly reviews the functional
anatomy of the basal ganglia and their
relationships with the thalamocortical system.
The basal ganglia, including the striatum,
pallidum, subthalamic nucleus, and substantia
nigra, are involved in a number of parallel,
functionally segregated cortical-subcortical
circuits. These circuits support a wide range of
sensorimotor, cognitive and emotional-motivational brain functions. A main role of the
basal ganglia is the learning and selection of the
most appropriate motor or behavioral
programs. The internal functional organization
of the basal ganglia is very well suited for such
selection mechanisms, both in development and
in adulthood. The question of whether
clumsiness may be, at least in part, attributed
to dysfunction of the basal ganglia is discussed
in the context of the differential, complementary,
or interactive roles of the basal
ganglia and the cerebellum in the development
of motor control.

Henk J. Groenewegen

The Basal Ganglia and Motor Control

J. A. Eyre

Development and Plasticity of the Corticospinal System in Man

Mijna Hadders-Algra

The Clusmy Child: Where Are We and Where Are We Going&#x3F;

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Neural Plasticity is an interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the publication of articles related to all aspects of neural plasticity, with special emphasis on its functional significance as reflected in behavior and in psychopathology.

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Chief Editor, Professor Baudry, is currently University Professor at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA. His research focuses on understanding the molecular/cellular mechanisms of learning and memory and neurodegeneration.

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Neural Plasticity - Table of contents 2003

title

Neural Plasticity is an interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the publication of articles related to all aspects of neural plasticity, with special emphasis on its functional significance as reflected in behavior and in psychopathology.

Neural Plasticity