Unraveling postural control profiles in children with DCD, CP, and TD: Insights from a multimodal approach

Abstract

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Cerebral Palsy (CP) often experience difficulties with postural control, which is essential for everyday tasks. Yet, the exact nature of these challenges is not fully understood. This thesis compares children with DCD, mild CP, and their typically developing peers to better understand postural control by using a multimodal approach. This approach comprised comprehensive functional assessments, muscle activity measurements, and brain activity recordings to capture multiple aspects of postural control. The findings of this thesis show that an internal modeling deficit (a problem with predicting, planning, and adapting movements) appeared to underlie the postural control deficits in both DCD and CP, despite group-specific brain and muscular mechanisms. While this deficit appears to be a key factor in DCD, in CP it interacts with primary motor impairments. Postural control deficits also vary by task and by child, emphasizing the variability of these deficits. Overall, the results highlight the importance of individualized, task-specific assessments and interventions considering all elements for postural control, offering new insights for more tailored support for children with DCD and CP.