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Motor learning in children with spina bifida: Intact learning and performance on a ballistic task

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2006

MAUREEN DENNIS ,
DERRYN JEWELL ,
KIM EDELSTEIN ,
MICHAEL E. BRANDT ,
ROSS HETHERINGTON ,
SUSAN E. BLASER  and
JACK M. FLETCHER
MAUREEN DENNIS
Affiliation:
Brain and Behaviour Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DERRYN JEWELL
Affiliation:
Brain and Behaviour Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
KIM EDELSTEIN
Affiliation:
Brain and Behaviour Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MICHAEL E. BRANDT
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Biomedicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas
ROSS HETHERINGTON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Community Health Systems Resource Group, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
SUSAN E. BLASER
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
JACK M. FLETCHER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
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Abstract

Learning and performance on a ballistic task were investigated in children with spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM), with either upper level spinal lesions (n = 21) or lower level spinal lesions (n = 81), and in typically developing controls (n = 35). Participants completed three phases (20 trials each) of an elbow goniometer task that required a ballistic arm movement to move a cursor to one of two target positions on a screen, including (1) an initial learning phase, (2) an adaptation phase with a gain change such that recalibration of the ballistic arm movement was required, and (3) a learning reactivation phase under the original gain condition. Initial error rate, asymptotic error rate, and learning rate did not differ significantly between the SBM and control groups. Relative to controls, the SBM group had reduced volumes in the cerebellar hemispheres and pericallosal gray matter (the region including the basal ganglia), although only the pericallosal gray matter was significantly correlated with motor adaptation. Congenital cerebellar dysmorphology is associated with preserved motor skill learning on voluntary, nonreflexive tasks in children with SBM, in whom the relative roles of the cerebellum and basal ganglia may differ from those in the adult brain. (JINS, 2006, 12, 598–608.)

Keywords

CerebellumHydrocephalusMeningomyeloceleMotor skillsAdaptationMagnetic resonance imaging
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 12 , Issue 5 , September 2006 , pp. 598 - 608
Copyright
© 2006 The International Neuropsychological Society

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