Developmental Changes in Interlimb Coordination: Transition to Hands-and-Knees Crawling

Abstract

A short-term longitudinal study was conducted to assess changes in the patterning of the limbs during infants’ transition to hands-and-knees crawling Six infants were studied using observational and kinematic assessment techniques The results revealed that all 6 infants converged on the same diagonal interlimb pattern for locomoting shortly after developing sufficient muscle strength to support their abdomens above the support surface This finding is significant because forward prone progression could be accomplished using any number of interlimb patterns (e g, moving one limb at a time), yet a diagonal pattern is the most flexible and dynamically efficient The process by which this behavioral pattern emerges appears consistent with recent developmental theories suggesting that new responses are selected to optimize performance following periods of increased variability induced by changing organismic or environmental conditions

Movement analysis in infancy may be useful for early diagnosis of autism

“…There are several forms of creeping and crawling and there is much debate about the interlimb patterning involved (see ref. 12 for a detailed discussion of this topic). We will consider here only crawling on hands and knees.…”

Eshkol–Wachman movement notation in diagnosis: The early detection of Asperger's syndrome

“…With regard to crawling patterns, Freedland and Bertenthal (13) stated that ''crawling experience, and specifically experience following the onset of hands-and-knees crawling, contributes to the development and reorganization of a number of other skills, such as spatial orientation, fear of heights, and postural stability.'' When considering different crawling patterns, they added ''that diagonally opposite limbs (e.g., right arm and left leg) move together and this strategy is most dynamically efficient for human infants because the diagonal coupling of the limbs maintains the most stable center of gravity'' (13). Significantly, some infants later diagnosed with AS exhibited crawling patterns that deviated from the basic diagonally opposing limb patterns.…”

The Neuronal Group Selection Theory: a framework to explain variation in normal motor development

“…But when postural control allows for crawling on hands and knees the variation in locomotor coordination rapidly drops, and the efficient pattern of diagonal gait where right arm and left leg move together, is selected 58,60,69 . Proficiency of crawling gradually increases in the following weeks.…”