Motor imagery training enhances motor skill in children with DCD: A replication study

Feasibility of Motor Imagery Training for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder – A Pilot Study

“…In sum, this study demonstrated the feasibility of our treatment protocol (Adams et al, 2016b) for use with a clinical group of school-age children with DCD and results extend earlier efficacy studies (Wilson et al, 2002, 2016a). Importantly, this was demonstrated across different levels of evaluation: behavioral measures of movement skill, clinical implementation and questionnaires addressing usability and skill acquisition.…”

“…In a group of children with mild to moderate DCD, Wilson et al (2002) showed that a computer-based MI training (including AO elements) regime improved the level of movement skill, and showed comparable effects to physical therapy. This finding was replicated recently, in a cohort screened rigorously for DCD (Wilson et al, 2016a). In sum, converging evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies of motor control and action in DCD, adult neuropsychology, mainstream neuroscience of motor control in adults, and existing data on the effects of MI training across populations, suggest that MI is a prime modality that may serve motor intervention for children motor problems.…”

“…Recent research in adults with acquired brain damage (Ertelt et al, 2007; Page et al, 2007; Zimmermann-Schlatter et al, 2008; Pelosin et al, 2010; Kim and Lee, 2013) and studies in motor impaired children (Wilson et al, 2002, 2016a) support two techniques that target internal modeling: motor imagery (MI; internal rehearsal of a future motor action without overt motor output) and action observation (AO; observation of a to-be-learned action performed by someone else). MI and AO can be considered two sides of the same coin (namely motor simulation), MI being internally simulated motor action and AO being externally modeled motor action (Vogt et al, 2013).…”

“…These developmental trends supported the view that MI training is feasible for pediatric rehabilitation in typically developing children as young as 5 years of age. The few experimental studies of AO/MI training in typically developing children (e.g., Atienza et al, 1998; Coelho et al, 2007; Guillot et al, 2015) and children with developmental motor disorders have shown great promise (Wilson et al, 2002, 2016a; Buccino et al, 2012; Sgandurra et al, 2013). For example, Guillot et al (2015) found that embedding MI during a high intensity intermittent tennis training for typically developing children enabled the development of physical fitness and the preservation of stroke performance.…”

Motor planning in children with cerebral palsy: A longitudinal perspective

“…MI and AO are important means by which learning of complex motor tasks can be established, and they share common neurophysiological networks with motor planning (e.g., Vogt, Rienzo, Collet, Collins, & Guillot, 2013). Training of motor skills via MI and AO intervention was successful in adults with stroke (Page, Levine, & Leonard, 2007), and accumulating evidence indicates that it is also useful to train motor planning in children with congenital motor disorders such as CP and DCD (e.g., Sgandurra et al, 2013;Wilson et al, 2016). The extent to which the development of this ability can be improved and accelerated with guided therapeutic intervention based on MI and AO in the present group of children warrants further study.…”