Early Brain Damage and the Development of Motor Behaviorin Children: Clues for Therapeutic Intervention?

A systematic review of the effects of early intervention on motor development

“…The most important disadvantage of intervention that starts when the disorder has become undeniable is that it starts relatively late from the point of view of plasticity of the brain. 5 Indeed, previous studies have indicated that programmes starting before the ninth month after term provided more improvement in both motor and personal skills than programmes starting later. 6,7 In view of this, it seems wise to start intervention early in life.…”

“…4 This means that high plasticity can be expected between 2 to 3 months before, and about 6 to 8 months after term age. 5 However, there are two potential disadvantages that might be associated with intervention early in life. First, the type of problems that the infant will develop later in life will not yet be clear.…”

Developmental Coordination Disorder

“…3 Several theories speculate that the etiology of DCD is part of the continuum of cerebral palsy 5,13 ; is secondary to prenatal, perinatal, or neonatal insult 3 ; or is secondary to neuronal damage at the cellular level in the neurotransmitter or receptor systems. 14 HaddersAlgra 14 based her view that DCD is a result of damage at the cellular level on evidence that cerebral palsy is often caused by prenatal damage that cannot be identified by current diagnostic techniques.…”

“…17 In this regard, these genetically determined collections of interconnected neurons (neuronal groups) in both cortical and subcortical structures serve as an early repertoire for motor behavior or receipt of specific sensory information. 14,17,18 According to neuronal group selection theory, motor development proceeds in 2 phases. 15 The first, the phase of primary variability, is characterized by crude and erratic motor activity that does not require sensory information for its initiation or guidance.…”

“…As the more efficient movement patterns are practiced, the appropriate synaptic circuits are reinforced and subsequently established. 14,17,19,20 21 For example, items testing one motor skill may be influenced by a related motor skill (eg, ball-throwing skills cannot be separated from visuomotor skills). In addition, a test may have an over-representation of one skill that could unduly influence the child's performance on the test.…”