Adults with sensorimotor disorders: enhanced physiological and psychological development following specific sensorimotor training

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate, for the first time, if it is possible to integrate primary reflexes in adults with sensorimotor disorders through sensorimotor therapy (SMT). Participants consisted of 14 adults, one man and 13 women, with an average age of 35 years who completed a SMT program over 3 years. They were compared with a reference group of 100 youngsters spanning from 11 to 17 years. Procedures were the same for both youngsters and adults including regular visits to a therapist and training ~15 min each day at home throughout therapy. Assessments of sensorimotor abilities were made before and after the therapy. Results showed significant improvements on all measurements with regard to treatment for both age groups and the main picture indicated small differences between age groups. After therapy adults were better on balance and orientation tests while the youngsters performed better on sports related gross motor movements, processing of speech sounds and had acquired a better relation between visual skills and vestibular function. Conclusions were that motor problems do not disappear with age and that the same diagnostic instruments and treatment methods can be used for both children and adults with sensorimotor difficulties.

Catching-up: Children with developmental coordination disorder compared to healthy children before and after sensorimotor therapy

“…Research has to an inceasing degree presented associations with learning difficulties [ 10 ], problems of concentration, language impairment, behavior problems, overarching academic difficulties (reading and writing), poor social skills, anxiety, depression [ 11 ], mental health difficulties, [ 12 ] and peer victimization [ 13 ]. Studies have also shown that motor difficulties are not outgrown [ 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Some children with this diagnosis also exhibit a different kind of anomalous motor ability believed to constitute neurodevelopmental immaturities or neurological soft signs (NSS) rather than neurological abnormalities [ 17 ]. NSS is a heterogenous mix of movement patterns, some of which are remaining primary reflexes [ 15 ] and possibly also defective sensory integration [ 21 ]. The European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD) [ 19 ] as well as Wiener-Vacher and colleagues [ 22 ] recommended that sensory status (i.e.…”

“…At the Vestibularis Clinic in Sweden sensorimotor therapy (SMT) according to the method Retraining for Balance (RB) has been practiced more than 25 years and several reports have shown successful treatment results [ 15 , 24 , 25 ]. The method includes aberrant primary reflex assessment and integration, vestibular assessment and stimulation as well as auditory perceptual assessment and stimulation [ 24 ] in order to treat sensorimotor disorders (SMD) in children, adolecents and adults.…”

“…The method includes aberrant primary reflex assessment and integration, vestibular assessment and stimulation as well as auditory perceptual assessment and stimulation [ 24 ] in order to treat sensorimotor disorders (SMD) in children, adolecents and adults. The concept SMD was tentatively introduced [ 15 ] as a complement to the label DCD in order to stress the importance of reentering vestibular function into the diagnostic criteria [ 26 ]. Recent research supports this notion through its recognition of vestibular influence upon various aspects of human behavior [ 27 ].…”

Mental Toughness: The Importance of Psychological Preparations for Penalty Shootouts in Ice Hockey

“…A further notion is that ice hockey requires an outstanding balance ability Psychology (Han, Anson, Waddington, Adams, & Liu, 2015) which is particularly important in situations that require attention and concentration (Hrysomallis, 2011) as in shootouts. Therefore further studies are also suggested to investigate the role of sensorimotor maturity (Niklasson, Rasmussen, Niklasson, & Norlander, 2015;Niklasson, Norlander, Niklasson, & Rasmussen, 2017).…”