Aim: To better understand the neural and performance factors that may underlie developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and implications for a multi‐component account.Method: A systematic review of the experimental literature published between June 2011 and September 2016 was conducted using a modified PICOS (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes, and study type) framework. A total of 106 studies were included.Results: Behavioural data from 91 studies showed a broad cluster of deficits in the anticipatory control of movement, basic processes of motor learning, and cognitive control. Importantly, however, performance issues in DCD were often shown to be moderated by task type and difficulty. As well, we saw new evidence of compensatory processes and strategies in several studies. Neuroimaging data (15 studies, including electroencephalography) showed reduced cortical thickness in the right medial orbitofrontal cortex and altered brain activation patterns across functional networks involving prefrontal, parietal, and cerebellar regions in children with DCD than those in comparison groups. Data from diffusion‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging suggested reduced white matter organization involving sensorimotor structures and altered structural connectivity across the whole brain network.Interpretation: Taken together, results support the hypothesis that children with DCD show differences in brain structure and function compared with typically developing children. Behaviourally, these differences may affect anticipatory planning and reduce automatization of movement skill, prompting greater reliance on slower feedback‐based control and compensatory strategies. Implications for future research, theory development, and clinical practice are discussed.

Virtual reality technologies show potential as effective rehabilitation tools following neuro-trauma. In particular, the Elements system, involving customized surface computing and tangible interfaces, produces strong treatment effects for upper-limb and cognitive function following traumatic brain injury. The present study evaluated the efficacy of Elements as a virtual rehabilitation approach for stroke survivors. Twenty-one adults (42–94 years old) with sub-acute stroke were randomized to four weeks of Elements virtual rehabilitation (three weekly 30–40 min sessions) combined with treatment as usual (conventional occupational and physiotherapy) or to treatment as usual alone. Upper-limb skill (Box and Blocks Test), cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment and selected CogState subtests), and everyday participation (Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory) were examined before and after inpatient training, and one-month later. Effect sizes for the experimental group (d = 1.05–2.51) were larger compared with controls (d = 0.11–0.86), with Elements training showing statistically greater improvements in motor function of the most affected hand (p = 0.008), and general intellectual status and executive function (p ≤ 0.001). Proportional recovery was two- to three-fold greater than control participants, with superior transfer to everyday motor, cognitive, and communication behaviors. All gains were maintained at follow-up. A course of Elements virtual rehabilitation using goal-directed and exploratory upper-limb movement tasks facilitates both motor and cognitive recovery after stroke. The magnitude of training effects, maintenance of gains at follow-up, and generalization to daily activities provide compelling preliminary evidence of the power of virtual rehabilitation when applied in a targeted and principled manner. this pilot study was not registered.

This study provides new norm scores for the Box and Block Test for gross manual dexterity in children ages 3–10 yr. Two hundred fifteen Dutch children performed the Box and Block Test separately with each hand. We found an age effect for the scores; older children obtained higher scores than younger children. Concurrent validity was assessed by means of comparison with the manual dexterity subtests of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children–2; correlations were significant. Intraclass correlation coefficients for test–retest and interrater reliability measures were .85 and .99, respectively. The Box and Block Test is an easy, feasible, valid, and reliable measurement for gross manual dexterity in young children. The obtained norms can be used in clinical settings to compare the gross manual dexterity of atypically developing children with that of age-related peers and to evaluate efficacy of interventions. A larger international reference population is needed to increase generalizability.

Various studies on the hand laterality judgment task, using complex sets of stimuli, have shown that the judgments during this task are dependent on bodily constraints. More specific, these studies showed that reaction times are dependent on the participant’s posture or differ for hand pictures rotated away or toward the mid-sagittal plane (i.e., lateral or medial rotation, respectively). These findings point to the use of a cognitive embodied process referred to as motor imagery. We hypothesize that the number of axes of rotation of the displayed stimuli during the task is a critical factor for showing engagement in a mental rotation task, with an increased number of rotational axes leading to a facilitation of motor imagery. To test this hypothesis, we used a hand laterality judgment paradigm in which we manipulated the difficulty of the task via the manipulation of the number of rotational axes of the shown stimuli. Our results showed increased influence of bodily constraints for increasing number of axes of rotation. More specifically, for the stimulus set containing stimuli rotated over a single axis, no influence of biomechanical constraints was present. The stimulus sets containing stimuli rotated over more than one axes of rotation did induce the use of motor imagery, as a clear influence of bodily constraints on the reaction times was found. These findings extend and refine previous findings on motor imagery as our results show that engagement in motor imagery critically depends on the used number of axes of rotation of the stimulus set.