Neuroergonomic Assessment of Developmental Coordination Disorder

Until recently, neural assessments of gross motor coordination could not reliably handle active tasks, particularly in realistic environments, and offered a narrow understanding of motor-cognition. By applying a comprehensive neuroergonomic approach using optical mobile neuroimaging, we demonstrated the broader capability for ecologically relevant neural evaluations for the “difficult-to-diagnose” Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), a motor-learning deficit affecting 5-6% of children with lifelong complications. We confirmed that DCD is not an intellectual, but a motor-cognitive disability, as gross motor /complex tasks revealed neuro-hemodynamic deficits and dysfunction within the right middle and superior frontal gyri of the Prefrontal Cortex. Furthermore, by incorporating behavioral performance, aberrant patterns of neural efficiency in these regions were revealed in DCD children, specifically during motor tasks. Lastly, we provide a framework, evaluating disorder impact in real-world contexts to identify those for whom interventional approaches are most needed and open the door for precision therapies.