Early motor development and cognitive abilities among Mexican preschoolers

Psychomotricity plays a very important role in children’s development, especially for learning involving reading–writing and mathematical calculations. Evaluate motor development in children 3 years old and its relationship with their cognitive abilities at the age of 5 years. Based on a cohort study, we analyzed the information about motor performance evaluated at 3 years old by Peabody Motor Scale and cognitive abilities at 5 years old. The association was estimated using linear regression models adjusted by mother’s intelligence quotient, sex, Bayley mental development index at 18 months, and quality of the environment at home (HOME scale). 148 children whose motor performance was determined at age 3 and was evaluated later at age 5 to determine their cognitive abilities. Cognitive abilities (verbal, quantitative, and memory) measured by McCarthy Scales. Significant positive associations were observed between stationary balance at age 3 with verbal abilities (β = 0.67, p = .04) and memory (β = 0.81, p = .02) at 5 years. Grasping and visual-motor integration were significant and positively associated with quantitative abilities (β = 0.74, p = .005; β = 0.61, p = .01) and memory (β = 2.11, p = .001; β = 1.74, p = .004). The results suggest that early motor performance contributes to the establishment of cognitive abilities at 5 years. Evaluation and early motor stimulation before the child is faced with formal learning likely helps to create neuronal networks that facilitate the acquisition of academic knowledge.     

Mastering balance: The use of balance bicycles promotes the development of independent cycling

Children who learn to cycle at a young age do this by using training bicycles that simplify control requirements compared with regular bicycles, such as bicycles with training wheels or balance bikes without pedals. The primary purpose of the current study was to investigate whether the two types of training bicycles result in a different age of onset of independent cycling on a regular bicycle. We asked parents of 4- to 6-year-old children (n = 173) to complete a questionnaire regarding their child's bicycling history. The results showed that children who had practised with a balance bicycle started practising at a younger age, had shorter practice duration, and were able to cycle independently at a younger age in comparison to children who had practised with a bicycle with training wheels (or with both training bicycles). We argue that the observed advantage of balance bicycle is associated with the balance bicycle actively challenging postural control. Further research is needed to uncover the impact of training bicycles on the further development of the foundational skill of cycling.     

What matters is the underlying experience: Similar motor responses during processing observed hand actions and hand-related verbs

It is well-accepted that processing observed actions involves at some extent the same neural mechanisms responsible for action execution. More recently, it has been forwarded that also the processing of verbs expressing a specific motor content is subserved by the neural mechanisms allowing individuals to perform the content expressed by that linguistic material. This view is also known as embodiment and contrasts with a more classical approach to language processing that considers it as amodal. In the present study, we used a go/no-go paradigm, in which participants were requested to respond to real words and pictures and refrain from responding when presented stimuli were pseudowords and scrambled images. Real stimuli included pictures depicting hand- and foot-related actions and verbs expressing hand- and foot-related actions. We, therefore, directly compared the modulation of hand motor responses during the observation of actions and the presentation of verbs, expressing actions in the same category. The results have shown that participants gave slower hand motor responses during the observation of hand actions and the processing of hand-related verbs as than observed foot actions and related verbs. These findings support embodiment showing that whatever the modality of presentation (observed action or verb), the modulation of hand motor responses was similar, thus suggesting that processing seen actions and related verbs shares common mechanisms most likely involving the motor system and the underlying motor experience.     

Dynamic dominance persists during unsupported reaching

Previous studies examining lateralization of arm movements focused on supported movements in the horizontal plane, removing the effects of gravity. The authors hypothesized that interlimb differences in free reaching would be consistent with the differences shown during supported reaching. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected for the forearm and upper arm segments in a 3-direction reaching task. Results showed lateralization of coordination, reflected by initial movement direction and trajectory curvature. The nondominant arm showed increased initial direction errors, and path curvature associated with a timing deficit between elbow and shoulder peak torques. These coordination deficits did not disrupt final position accuracy. The authors conclude that nondominant arm coordination deficits are similar to those reported previously for horizontal plane movements.     

I Am So Happy ‘Cause My Friend Is Happy for Me: Capitalization,Friendship, and Happiness Among U.S. and Turkish College Students

ABSTRACT

Friends usually share positive events in their lives with each other. Referred to as capitalization, this process promotes individual happiness when the discloser perceives that the responses display genuine support. Yet, the specific mechanisms explaining why capitalization is associated with happiness are not known. The present study addresses this empirical issue by testing a mediational model positing that friendship quality would mediate the relationship between capitalization and happiness among U.S. and Turkish college students. Although the psychosocial well-being of the U.S. participants was significantly higher than Turkish participants, the proposed model was supported in both groups. This suggests that part of the reason capitalization is associated with happiness is because of friendship experiences. The authors also provide suggestions for future research.     

Initial responses to the first dose of nicotine in novel smokers: The role of exposure to environmental smoking and genetic predisposition

Background: Sensitivity to initial smoking constitutes an early predictor of the risk of dependence. We investigated the role of exposure to smoking (by parents, siblings, and peers) and reward-related candidate gene polymorphisms (OPRM1 A118G, DRD2 TaqlA and DRD4?bp VNTR) in adolescents’ responses to initial smoking.

Methods: We used cross-sectional survey data and saliva samples from 171 Dutch students who had never inhaled on a cigarette (mean age: 13.9?years). The outcome measure was adolescents’ self-reported responses to initial smoking.

Results: Exposure to peer smoking was associated with increased liking (OR?=?1.74, CI?=?1.13–2.70) and more pleasant sensations (β?=?.21, p?=?.01). Exposure to maternal smoking was associated with less unpleasant sensations (β?=??.20, p?=?.01). Adolescents carrying the G-variant of the OPRM1 A118G polymorphism were more likely to report liking (OR?=?2.50, CI?=?1.09–5.73) and adolescents homozygous for the C-variant of the DRD2 TaqlA polymorphism reported less unpleasant sensations (β?=?.18, p?=?.04).

Conclusion: Although preliminary, these findings suggest that exposure to environmental smoking and polymorphisms in the OPRM1 and DRD2 gene may affect initial sensitivity to nicotine, an early phenotype of the risk of dependence. In the future, collaborative efforts to combine data from multiple studies in meta-analyses are needed to improve accuracy of estimated effects in genetic studies.     

MOTOR PREPARATION,MOTOR EXECUTION,ATTENTION, AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS IN ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD)

Attention and executive functions were investigated in medicated and unmedicated children with ADHD combined type using a novel selective reaching task. This task involved responding as rapidly as possible to a target while at times having to ignore a distractor. Results indicated that unmedicated children with ADHD showed slow and inaccurate responding. Slow responding reflected problems at the stage of movement preparation but not movement execution. An attentional impairment, rather than a motor planning problem per se, appeared to underlie the slow movement preparation. Inaccurate responding reflected problems with response inhibition and selective attention, impulsivity, set-shifting, and difficulties in maintaining vigilance. Although medicated children with ADHD did not show slow movement preparation, they did show some response inaccuracy, resulting especially from impulsive responding.These findings suggest that ADHD is characterized by slow motor preparation (but not motor execution), and deficits in selective attention, vigilance, and executive functions. Preliminary results suggest that stimulant medication may resolve some of these motor, attentional and executive function deficits.     

基于直线临摹的ADHD儿童眼手协调能力研究

ADHD儿童在精细动作方面通常伴随眼手协调运动障碍。以往采用的研究方法多为定性研究,且未在ADHD儿童的运动协调性与同龄正常儿童的差异上得出统一结论。本研究针对精细动作中眼手协调能力进行定量分析。实验要求被试在计算机触摸屏上分别临摹水平线、垂直线和斜线,通过记录临摹直线与呈现直线的偏差程度和拐点数,以分析ADHD儿童眼手协调能力与正常儿童之间的差异。结果表明,ADHD儿童在眼手协调和空间知觉能力上与正常儿童存在显著性差异。此外,本研究表明,改进的定量方法具有良好的可行性。     

Effects of test anxiety on motor learning: The processing efficiency hypothesis

Abstract

The hypothesis that, under test (stress) conditions, high trait-anxious individuals invest extra processing resources to reach motor learning levels similar to those of low-anxious individuals was investigated. A transfer procedure (practice trial, rest interval, and transfer trial) was employed to analyse motor learning effects. In Experiment 1, a secondary task (click detection) was used to measure the extra processing resources expenditure on motor learning during the practice trial. Neither motor performance in the transfer trial nor secondary task performance differed as a function of test condition or anxiety trait. A critical analysis of the secondary task paradigm suggested that it was not sensitive enough to reflect the amount of processing capacity expended on the primary motor tasks. In Experiment 2, subjects performed a loading task (verbal shadowing of sentences) concurrently with the motor tasks during the practice trial to prevent extra resources from being allocated to motor learning. Results showed that anxiety trait was associated to performance time increments on the high-demanding motor tasks in the transfer trial. A plausible explanation is that anxiety impairs learning because it reduces the efficiency of processing. An alternative interpretation, concerning an ability deficit of high trait-anxious individuals, is discussed.