THE RELATIONSHIP OF MOVEMENT SKILLS WITH HABITUAL AND ORGANIZED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN SEVEN AND EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

PURPOSE: To verify the association of motor skills with habitual and organized PA participation, and sedentary behavior for males and females. METHODS: The study employed a cross-sectional design in a sample of seventy-six second graders from a public elementary school in a Midwestern State. RESULTS: Mann Whitney and t-tests indicated gender differences in FMS and PA variables. Spearman correlation analyses demonstrated that habitual PA was correlated to total FMS, and manipulative skills for boys. For girls, a significant association was present in organized PA and locomotor skills. CONCLUSION: Choice of organized physical activity seems to influence the development of FMS and affect habitual PA behavior differently in boys and girls. Keywords: Motor skills. Child development. Motor activity

Voluntary Upper-Extremity Movements in Patients With Unilateral Peripheral Vestibular Hypofunction

AbstractBackground and Purpose. People with peripheral vestibular pathology demonstrate motor impairments when responding and adapting to postural platform perturbations and during performance of sit-to-stand and locomotor tasks. This study investigated the influence of unilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction on voluntary arm movement. Subjects and Methods. Subjects without known neurological impairments and subjects with vestibular impairments performed 3 voluntary arm movements: an overhead reach to a target, a sideward reach to a target, and a forward flexion movement through 90 degrees. Subjects performed these tasks under precued and choice reaction time conditions. During all tasks, body segment motion was measured. Head velocity measurements were calculated for the side task only. Results. Subjects with vestibular loss restricted upper body segment motion within the frontal and transverse planes for the 90-degree and overhead tasks. Average angular head velocity was lower for the group with vestibular hypofunction. Task uncertainty (the introduction of a choice reaction time paradigm) differentially influenced the groups regarding head velocity at target acquisition. Discussion and Conclusion. Individuals with vestibular loss altered their performance of voluntary arm movements. Such alterations may have served to minimize the functional consequences of gaze instability.</jats:p

Voluntary movement strategies of individuals with unilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction*

This study compared voluntary movement strategies of patients with unilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction with those of age-matched healthy control subjects. All subjects performed three voluntary movement tasks with their dominant upper extremity: a forward flexion arm movement through 90 degrees, a reach to an overhead target, and a reach to a side target. Subjects performed the movement tasks sitting and standing (Body Position), and under precued and choice reaction time (RT) conditions (Task Certainty). Measures of motor planning and movement execution included RT and movement time (MT), respectively. Statistical analysis included separate Group x Task Certainty x Body Position ANOVA calculations for each task. Across tasks, results suggested no between group differences for RT. A Task Certainty main effect for the side and overhead tasks indicated that the choice RT situation resulted in longer RTs as compared to the precued RT condition. Movement time differed between the two groups. Across all three voluntary movement tasks, vestibular impaired subjects moved more slowly than control subjects. Providing vestibular subjects with a precue did not bring MT performance to the level of controls. Body position influenced MT for the side task only. Across both groups of subjects, MT for the side task was longer when performed in the standing position. The results of this study suggest that individuals with unilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction initiate voluntary movement responses with similar timing as control subjects, but require more time to complete the movement. Vestibular rehabilitation should include goal-directed movement and should address issues of movement speed.</jats:p