Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neuromotor disorder of unknown etiology characterized by poor motor skills that significantly interferes with a child's ability to perform everyday activities and affects their psychosocial well-being. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying motor impairment, making it difficult to understand why children with DCD struggle to learn motor skills and what the best intervention would be to optimize function. With the advent of advanced neuroimaging techniques, several MRI studies have been conducted to tackle this important issue. Findings from these studies suggest that children with DCD activate different regions of the brain during functional tasks and show differences in white matter microstructure compared to typically developing children. The emerging neuroimaging data will help clarify the possible underlying mechanisms in relation to impaired motor function at the behavioral level in children with DCD.

In newborn infants born very preterm, brain injury is associated with changes in simple metrics of corpus callosum development. In this population, the development of the corpus callosum, as reflected by size and microstructure, is associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months corrected age.

IMPORTANCE Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a motor impairment that significantly interferes with activities of daily living. Little is known about the cause of DCD and how it develops, making it difficult to understand why children with DCD struggle in learning motor skills and to determine the best intervention to optimize function.OBJECTIVE To characterize white matter differences using diffusion tensor imaging in children with and without DCD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study collected diffusion tensorimaging data at BC Children' MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe main outcome measures were diffusion parameters, including fractional anisotropy and mean, axial, and radial diffusivity, which are thought to provide an indirect measure of white matter microstructure. Tract-based spatial statistics, a voxelwise statistical analysis of diffusion parameters, were conducted using a 2-group comparison design matrix with age and attention as covariates. RESULTSThirty children without DCD (mean [SD] age, 9.9 [1.4] years; 21 [70%] boys) and 31 children with DCD (mean [SD] age, 10.1 [1.2] years; 26 [84%] boys) were included in the study. Compared with children without DCD, children with DCD were characterized by significantly lower fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity in regions of white matter pathways associated with motor and sensorimotor processing, including the corticospinal tract (fractional anisotropy: mean [SD], 0.54 [0.03] vs 0.51 [0.03]; P < .001; axial diffusivity: mean [SD], 0.13 [0.98] vs 0.12 [0.46]; P = .01), posterior thalamic radiation at the retrolenticular part of the internal capsule (axial diffusivity: mean [SD], 0.14 [0.57] vs 0.14 [0.44]; P = .01), and cerebellar pathways (eg, superior cerebellar peduncle, fractional anisotropy: mean [SD], 0.49 [0.05] vs 0.46 [0.03]; P = .03; axial diffusivity: mean [SD], 0.14 [0.66] vs 0.14 [0.63]; P = .009). There were no significant differences in mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity between children with and without DCD. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE These findings suggest that children with DCD show significant brain differences in motor and sensorimotor white matter pathways compared with children without DCD. The pattern of diffusion parameters in children with DCD suggests that axonal development may be disrupted in this neurodevelopmental disorder. Question What white matter microstructural differences are associated with children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) compared with children without DCD? Findings In this cross-sectional study of 31 children with DCD and 30 children without DCD, widespread differences in indices of white matter microstructure, including fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity, were observed in children with DCD compared with children without DCD. Meaning These findings suggest that DCD does not simply represent the low end of typical motor skill ability; these children display altered brain development in sensorimotor pathways.Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; caseload...

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by poor motor skills that interfere with a child's ability to perform everyday activities. Little is known about the neural mechanisms that implicate DCD, making it difficult to understand why children with DCD struggle to learn motor skills and selecting the best intervention to optimize function. Neuroimaging studies that utilize magnetic resonance imaging techniques have the capacity to play a critical role in helping to guide clinicians to optimize functional outcomes of children with DCD using evidence-based rehabilitation interventions. The authors' goal is to describe how neuroimaging research can be applied to occupational therapy and rehabilitation sciences by highlighting projects that are at the forefront of the field and elucidate future directions.