Atypical procedural learning in children with developmental coordination disorder: A combined behavioral and neuroimaging study

Kaila M Bianco; Pamela Barhoun; Jarrad A G Lum; Ian Fuelscher; Peter G Enticott; Jacqueline Williams; Timothy J Silk; Karen Caeyenberghs; Christian Hyde

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106160

Atypical procedural learning in children with developmental coordination disorder: A combined behavioral and neuroimaging study

Brain Cogn. 2024 Apr 25:177:106160. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106160. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Kaila M Bianco¹, Pamela Barhoun², Jarrad A G Lum², Ian Fuelscher², Peter G Enticott², Jacqueline Williams³, Timothy J Silk⁴, Karen Caeyenberghs², Christian Hyde²

Affiliations

¹ Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia. Electronic address: kbianco@deakin.edu.au.
² Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
³ Institute for Health and Sport, College of Sport Health and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.

PMID: 38670051
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106160

Abstract

While procedural learning (PL) has been implicated in delayed motor skill observed in developmental coordination disorder (DCD), few studies have considered the impact of co-occurring attentional problems. Furthermore, the neurostructural basis of PL in children remains unclear. We investigated PL in children with DCD while controlling for inattention symptoms, and examined the role of fronto-basal ganglia-cerebellar morphology in PL. Fifty-nine children (6-14 years; n_DCD = 19, n_control = 40) completed the serial reaction time (SRT) task to measure PL. The Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale-IV was administered to measure inattention symptoms. Structural T1 images were acquired for a subset of participants (n_DCD = 10, n_control = 28), and processed using FreeSurfer. Volume was extracted for the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and frontal regions. After controlling for inattention symptoms, the reaction time profile of controls was consistent with learning on the SRT task. This was not the case for those with DCD. SRT task performance was positively correlated with cerebellar cortical volume, and children with DCD trended towards lower cerebellar volume compared to controls. Children with DCD may not engage in PL during the SRT task in the same manner as controls, with this differential performance being associated with atypical cerebellar morphology.

Keywords: Cerebellum; Developmental coordination disorder; Procedural memory; Serial reaction time (SRT) task; Structural MRI.