Visual motor integration: generation, development, and its importance for ophthalmology

Visual motor coordination (VMC) is the coordination of the motions and their elements resulting from the collaborative and simultaneous activity of the visual and motor analyzers required for daily activities, sports, and professional activities. The development of VMI begins in the early childhood and proceeds throughout human life being the most active within the first 10 years. VMC is a part of visual motor integration (VMI) defined as a complex combination of skills to correctly execute the movements of arms, legs, and body. The potential causes of impaired VMI are arrested development due to living conditions, organization of teaching, individual developmental or health characteristics; nervous system diseases (i.e., head injuries, cerebrovascular disorders, intoxication etc.); and, in particular, visual impairments. Since the quality of visual functions is an important component of good VMC, its generation and development require adequate vision correction. It was demonstrated that the degree of myopia may affect school performance in the areas requiring VMI. Optical correction of ametropias improves VMC. This should be considered when managing patients (in particular, children) with refractive errors. Keywords: visual motor coordination, visual and motor analyzers, visual functions, optical correction, micro-level orientation, fine motor skills, synchronization. For citation: Egorov E.A., Romanova T.B., Rybakova E.G. Visual motor integration: generation, development, and its importance for ophthalmology. Russian Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology. 2021;21(1):14–17. DOI: 10.32364/2311-7729-2021-21-1-14-17.

Characteristics of Executive Functions in Patients With Cognitive Impairments in the Presence of Depressive Disorders

Introduction. The urgency of the problem of affective pathology and, above all, depression, due to a number of factors: the growing prevalence of depression, reaching 10.0 % in the population, the high risk of chronic such conditions, their maladaptive impact on social functioning, efficiency and quality of life, the burden of economic costs etc. According to epidemiological indicators in Ukraine over the past 10 years, the incidence of affective disorders has increased by 6.13 %, and the prevalence – by 13.16 %. Impaired thinking and executive functions, decreased concentration and difficulty making decisions are key diagnostic signs of depression. Cognitive impairment (CI) has a cumulative effect on the functionality of patients with depression and is associated with a longer duration of depressive episodes, which indicates the need for its diagnosis and treatment. At the present stage, there are no systematic ideas about the specifics of disorders of executive functions in the presence of different types of depressive disorders (DD), which determines the relevance of the study in this direction. The aim of the study. Describe the executive functions in patients with CI in the presence of DD. Materials and methods. The study included 362 patients with CI in the presence of DD, which were stratified into three groups of comparisons by the mechanism of DD: 123 patients with recurrent depressive disorders (RDD), 141 patients with bipolar affective disorder (BAD) and 98 people with prolonged depressive reaction (PDR). The predominant numbers (38.12 %) of patients with CI in the presence of DD were in adulthood (30-44 years). There were more young people (18-29 years) among patients with PDR (21.43 %, DC = 8.19) and among patients with BAD (31.21 %, DC = 9.82), and middle-aged people (45-59 years) (37.40 %, DC = 1.54) and the elderly (60-74 years) (17.07 %, DC = 4.78) – among patients with RDD. A set of research methods was used: clinical-psychopathological, psychodiagnostic and statistical. Results. Peculiarities of executive functions in patients with CI in the presence of DD were established: the moderate and severe disorders of visual-motor coordination (39.84 % and 19.51 %, respectively) and impaired visual-spatial functions (13.72 %), moderate and severe violations of executive functions (54.47 % and 13.01 %, respectively), moderate, severe and weak violations of the executive function of the lexical system (39.84 %, 32.52 % and 23.58 %, respectively) were present in patients with RDD; the moderate violations of verbal performance (58.54 %); moderate and severe violations of visual-motor coordination (41.13 % and 26.24 %, respectively), executive functions (65.96 % и 21.38 %, respectively), executive functions of the lexical system (47.52 % и 39,01 %, respectively) and verbal productivity (58.16 % and 21.28 % respectively) were found in BAD; absence and weak impairments of visual-motor coordination (45.92 % and 36.73 %, respectively), executive functions (23.47 % and 66.33 %, respectively), executive functions of the lexical system (31.63 % and 45.92 %, respectively) and verbal productivity (26.53 % and 58.16 %, respectively) were presented in patients with PDR. Conclusions. The study revealed the features of executive functions in patients with cognitive impairment in the presence of depressive disorders, which should be taken into account in the algorithm of their psychosocial rehabilitation.

Bimanual skills and symmetry of upper limb movement in a group of drummers

Introduction: Hand-eye coordination is essential to carry out daily activities or take part in sports. Developing strong visual-motor coordination is especially important for athletes or musicians who rely on it for their careers. Goal: This study aimed to evaluate visual-motor coordination in drummers’ upper limbs. Materials and methods: The study group consisted of 60 men, aged 20 to 30 years (average 24.62 ±2.48). The respondents were divided into two groups, group P consisted of 30 experienced drummers and group N of 30 non-drummers. Standardized tests were employed: Relative Hand Skill test (RHS test) and a plate tapping test. Results: The RHS test conducted on an original sample demonstrated no significant difference between the P and N group for the dominant limb (p=0.7272) or the non-dominant limb (p=0.3274). A significant difference was observed between the P and N group in the plate tapping test. The difference in the plate tapping test results between the dominant and non-dominant hands was significantly smaller in the P group than in the N group (p< 0.0001).

PSİXİ İNKİŞAFINDA LƏNGİMƏ OLAN UŞAQLARDA İDRAKİ PROSESLƏRİN XÜSUSİYYƏTLƏRİ

Key words: mental retardation, cognitive activity, pathology, correction system, memory, level of intellectual development, auditory-visual-motor coordination, perception, cognitive sphere, repetition, comprehension, memory, communication