Beyond age and gender: Relationships between cortical and subcortical brain volume and cognitive-motor abilities in school-age children

Abstract

There is growing evidence that cognitive and motor functions are interrelated and may rely on the development of the same cortical and subcortical neural structures. However, no study to date has examined the relationships between brain volume, cognitive ability, and motor ability in typically developing children. The NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development consists of a large, longitudinal database of structural MRI and performance measures from a battery of neuropsychological assessments from typically developing children. This dataset provides a unique opportunity to examine relationships between the brain and cognitive-motor abilities. A secondary analysis was conducted on data from 172 children between the ages of 6 to 13 years with up to 2 measurement occasions (initial testing and 2-year follow-up). Linear mixed effects modeling was employed to account for age and gender effects on the development of specific cortical and subcortical volumes as well as behavioral performance measures of interest. Above and beyond the effects of age and gender, significant relationships were found between general cognitive ability (IQ) and the volume of subcortical brain structures (cerebellum and caudate) as well as spatial working memory and the putamen. In addition, IQ was found to be related to global and frontal gray matter volume as well as parietal gray and white matter. At the behavioral level, general cognitive ability was also found to be related to visuomotor ability (pegboard) and executive function (spatial working memory). These results support the notion that cognition and motor skills may be fundamentally interrelated at both the levels of behavior and brain structure.

Coupling online control and inhibitory systems in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Goal-directed reaching

“…Of some importance in developmental terms is how predictive (online) control and executive function (EF) are coupled in the service of goal-directed action. This issue has also emerged as a focus in recent developmental studies (Gonzalez et al, 2014) with data showing that motor control and EF emerge along similar timelines and share overlapping neural networks (Pangelinan et al, 2011). We addressed here in relation to the neurocognitive underpinnings of DCD, enlisting a double-jump paradigm performed with and without inhibitory constraints.…”

Touch interaction for children aged 3 to 6 years: Experimental findings and relationship to motor skills

“…By doing so, we are able to connect children's performance on touch-screen devices (e.g., the time needed to perform drag and drop) with their level of motor development according to their age. If we were to adhere strictly to the formalism of Piaget's developmental stages, we would say that we address in this work children during their preoperational stage, i.e., children that are at the point of learning and developing their language skills, use of memory, and imagination (Piaget, 2001), abilities that are all connected with the development of motor skills (Adi-Japha et al, 2011;Mounoud, 1986;Pangelinanm et al, 2011).…”

Pentimento: A 21st Century View on the Canvas of Motor Development

“…Growing interest in the origins and interventions for disorders with clear motor correlates, such as autism, have resulted in a desire for a better understanding of the infant's and young child's motor development (e.g., Allen & Courchesne, 2003). Using various imaging techniques, the developing brain-behavior relationships around motor behavior are slowly emerging for typically developing children (Pangelinan et al, 2010(Pangelinan et al, , 2011.…”