Sequential motor task (Luria's Fist-Edge-Palm Test) in children with benign focal epilepsy of childhood with centrotemporal spikes

Abstract

This study evaluated the sequential motor manual actions in children with benign focal epilepsy of childhood with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) and compares the results with matched control group, through the application of Luria's fist-edge-palm test. The children with BECTS underwent interictal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and School Performance Test (SPT). Significant difference occurred between the study and control groups for manual motor action through three equal and three different movements. Children with lower school performance had higher error rate in the imitation of hand gestures. Another factor significantly associated with the failure was the abnormality in SPECT. Children with BECTS showed abnormalities in the test that evaluated manual motor programming/planning. This study may suggest that the functional changes related to epileptiform activity in rolandic region interfere with the executive function in children with BECTS.

Oral dyspraxia in self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes: a comparative study with a control group

“…Few studies have investigated the performance of oral praxis tasks, and little data are available for both adults and children. Similarly, very little is known about how to develop oral praxis in children according to age groups 26 .…”

What type of inhibition underpins performance on Luria’s Fist-Edge-Palm task?

“…Despite Luria's initial protocol, variation in administration of the FEP became evident. Several studies have not determined the amount of cycles a participant is required to complete (Rao et al, 2008;Chan et al, 2006), while other clinical studies have asked patients to perform as few as three cycles of the task (Iseki et al, 2013;Weiner et al, 2011), some six (Park & Moon, 2014;Miziara et al, 2013) and others 15 (Zaytseva et al, 2014). Given this inconsistency we selected a rough mid-way point between previous studies and elected to have our participants perform 10 cycles in each of the pacing conditions.…”

“…Variation exists in how the scores were calculated in previous studies. Numerous studies scored only crude errors, such as omission or repetition of a motion (Park & Moon, 2014;Miziara et al, 2013). Other studies scored more subtle technical errors, such as flexing of the fingers during cutting motions (Weiner et al, 2011).…”

“…Human voluntary movement is the outcome of a highly complex functional system which incorporates a multitude of cognitive processes relying on the synchronous organization and utilization of various cortical regions (Miziara, Manreza, Mansur, Reed & Buchpiguel, 2013), and as such a variety of neuropsychological assessments are critical to making fine distinctions of an individual's cognitive and motor abilities. One well-known and widely used task is the Fist-Edge-Palm task (FEP; Luria, 1966).…”

Working memory and phonological awareness in children with rolandic epilepsy

“…Despite the favorable prognosis, studies began to question the "benign" nature of this syndrome when faced with complaints about learning abilities and deficits in neuropsychological tests of children affected by the issue (Beaumanoir, Ballis, Varfis, & Ansari, 1974;Hermann, Jones, Jackson, & Seidenberg, 2012), especially in the areas of language, memory, attention, motor coordination and executive functions (Capelatto et al, 2012;Hwang et al, 2013;Kim, Lee, Chung, Lim & Lee, 2014;Miziara et al, 2012;Neri et al, 2012;Northcott et al, 2005;Overvliet et al, 2013;Smith et al, 2012;Smith, Bajomo, & Pal, 2015;Tovia et al, 2011;Vannest et al, 2013;Verrotti, Filippini, Matricardi, Agostinelli & Gobbi, 2014).…”