Further evidence of complex motor dysfunction in drug naïve children with autism using automatic motion analysis of gait

Abstract

In order to increase the knowledge of locomotor disturbances in children with autism, and of the mechanism underlying them, the objective of this exploratory study was to reliably and quantitatively evaluate linear gait parameters (spatio-temporal and kinematic parameters), upper body kinematic parameters, walk orientation and smoothness using an automatic motion analyser (ELITE systems) in drug naïve children with Autistic Disorder (AD) and healthy controls. The children with AD showed a stiffer gait in which the usual fluidity of walking was lost, trunk postural abnormalities, highly significant difficulties to maintain a straight line and a marked loss of smoothness (increase of jerk index), compared to the healthy controls. As a whole, these data suggest a complex motor dysfunction involving both the cortical and the subcortical area or, maybe, a possible deficit in the integration of sensory-motor information within motor networks (i.e., anomalous connections within the fronto-cerebello-thalamo-frontal network). Although the underlying neural structures involved remain to be better defined, these data may contribute to highlighting the central role of motor impairment in autism and suggest the usefulness of taking into account motor difficulties when developing new diagnostic and rehabilitation programs.

From movement kinematics to social cognition: the case of autism

“…The magnitude of these kinematic atypicalities was significantly positively correlated with autism symptom severity as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule semi-structured questionnaire [116]. Such results are consistent with reports from other laboratories of atypically jerky arm [47] and whole-body [36] movements in autism. In a separate perception task, participants watched a series of visual stimuli comprising an image of a human hand that made vertical sinusoidal movements (down and then up) across the computer screen.…”

“…At least seven separate studies have assessed gait or the 'style of walking' in autistic children and adults, and a number of atypicalities have been observed [33][34][35][36][37]. For example, Nobile et al showed that, compared with typical individuals, autistic children (6-14 years) exhibited trunk postural abnormalities, difficulties in walking in a straight line, a marked loss of smoothness (an increase in the jerkiness of movement) and, in general, a stiffer gait in which the usual fluidity of walking was lost.…”

Common neurological co-morbidities in autism spectrum disorders

“…A very recent study by Nobile et al used a novel automatic motion analyzer to characterize gait in children with ASD and typical controls. They found that children with ASD exhibited a stiffer gait with lack of “smoothness,” struggled to maintain a straight line, and showed evidence of poor postural control [20]. A strength of this investigation was the use of a quantitative, automated system to characterize a motor domain that can be challenging to objectively measure.…”

Movement under uncertainty: The effects of the rubber-hand illusion vary along the nonclinical autism spectrum

“…In the present study, integrated jerk was calculated as the area under the curve of the Euclidean jerk vector obtained from the three linear axes. Following previous research that has studied the jerk of voluntary movements in clinical populations, the integrated jerk for each trial was normalised for both movement extent and movement duration before undergoing analysis (Hogan & Sternad, 2009;Nobile et al, 2011;Romero, Van Gemmert, Adler, Bekkering, & Stelmach, 2003;Teulings, Contreras-Vidal, Stelmach, & Adler, 1997).…”