Perception-Action Coupling in Grasping of Children with Down Syndrome

Twenty-one children with Down syndrome (DS) and 20 without disability, ages 3 to 11 years, completed the experiment in which they were asked to grasp and lift cardboard cubes of different sizes (2.2 to 16.2 cm in width). Three conditions were used: (a) increasing the size from the smallest to the largest cube, (b) decreasing the size from the largest to the smallest, and (c) a random order of sizes. Children with DS were found to have smaller hand sizes in comparison to age-matched children without DS. In addition, the shift from one-handed to two-handed grasping appeared at a smaller cube size for children with DS than for children without DS. However, when the dimensionless ratio between object size and hand size was considered, the differences between groups disappeared, indicating that the differences in grasping patterns between children with and without DS can be attributed to differences in body size.

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An exploratory study of the association between physical activity, cardiovascular fitness and body size in children with Down syndrome

Developmental Neurorehabilitation ◽

10.3109/17518423.2015.1077901 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 92-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Nora Shields ◽

Juliette Hussey ◽

Joan Murphy ◽

John Gormley ◽

Hilary Hoey

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Down Syndrome ◽

Body Size ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Cardiovascular Fitness ◽

Children With Down Syndrome

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Perception-Action Coupling in Infants with Down Syndrome: Effects of Experience and Practice

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly ◽

10.1123/apaq.22.1.39 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 39-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Paula F. Polastri ◽

and José A. Barela

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Visual Information ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Sitting Position ◽

Motor Action ◽

Trunk Sway ◽

Action Coupling ◽

The Relationship ◽

Perception Action

This study examined the effects of experience and practice on the coupling between visual information and trunk sway in infants with Down syndrome (DS). Five experienced and five novice sitters were exposed to a moving room, which was oscillated at 0.2 and 0.5 Hz. Infants remained in a sitting position and data were collected on the first, fourth, and seventh days. On the first day, experienced sitters were more influenced by room oscillation than were novices. On the following days, however, the influence of room oscillation decreased for experienced but increased for novice sitters. These results suggest that the relationship between sensory information and motor action in infants with DS can be changed with experience and practice.

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The Impact of Body-Scaled Information on Grasping Action in Toddlers with and without Down Syndrome

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice ◽

10.46743/1540-580x/2013.1451 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Yu-ping Chen ◽

Allison Mitch ◽

Kristen Chafin ◽

Rachel Sargent

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

The Body ◽

Object Size ◽

Left Hand ◽

Motor Abilities ◽

Hand Size ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Similar Body ◽

Hand Length ◽

The Impact

Background and purpose: Studies of adults and typically developing (TD) children find the number of hands and fingers used to grasp an object is influenced by the relationship between object size and hand size. Children with Down syndrome (DS) between 3 and 11 years have shown no differences in number of hands (1 or 2 hands) used to grasp different sized objects compared to TD children when the object size was body-scaled. The purpose of this study was to examine whether body-scaled information affected the number of hands and fingers used to grasp different sized objects in toddlers with and without DS. Method: Ten toddlers were included, 5 DS ( = 16 mo) and 5 age-matched TD ( = 16.3 mo). Subjects were videotaped grasping 14 boxes, 1.4 cm to 13.5 cm. in size. Number of hands and fingers used for grasping were recorded. Descriptive statistics, t-tests and Spearman correlation coefficient were used to compare the differences between toddlers with DS and TD. Results: Toddlers with DS had significantly smaller hand length than toddlers without DS (p=.004 right hand, p=.007 left hand). As box size increased, both groups switched from one-hand to two-hand grasping. There was a significant difference between groups where this transition occurred (p=.02). However, when the body-scaled ratio between object size and hand size was considered, the differences between groups disappeared (t(8)=1.479; p=.18). Moreover, the number of fingers used to grasp boxes also increased with increasing box size across both groups (ρ=0.94). Conclusion: Toddlers with DS show similar body-scaled grasping pattern as their age-matched peers with TD indicating that the differences in grasping patterns between toddlers with and without DS may be attributed to differences in body size, besides the motor abilities.

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