The long-term goal of this research is to develop diagnostic and treatment options for infants under 6 months of age who are at risk for coordination disorders. Clinically, infants are often first diagnosed as 'at risk' at 6-12 months of age when they show delay in several skills such as reaching or walking. Early arm movements (i.e., movements before the development of reaching) offer the potential to detect movement impairments within the first 12 weeks of postnatal life. This project involves the systematic, longitudinal study of joint coordination starting when infants are 4 weeks of age and continuing through successful reaching at 24 weeks. This project is a necessary precursor to the study of young infants at risk for coordination disorders and ultimately to treatments specific to enhancing reaching development.
The first aim of this project is to determine the pattern of shoulder-elbow-wrist dynamics from early arm movements through successful reaching. In adults, the appropriate combination of muscular and non-muscular moments at a joint are less complex at the shoulder than at distal points. Shoulder and elbow motion in pre-reaching infants suggests that this dynamic pattern may be present in early movements. If so, this could be an important early marker of typical development.
The second aim i s to determine the pattern of hip-knee-ankle dynamics from early leg movements up to successful feet reaching, and compare this pattern with that of the arms. Recent work suggests that infants are able to control their legs for reaching weeks before they can control their arms for reaching. Patterns of dynamics underlying feet reaching could help identify atypical development weeks earlier than hand reaching. This project will provide the foundation data for a larger study of the effects of early training on the development of reaching in very young infants at risk for developing coordination disorders such as cerebral palsy. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
5R03HD043830-02
Application #
6831728
Study Section
Pediatrics Subcommittee (CHHD)
Program Officer
Oster-Granite, Mary Lou
Project Start
2003-12-15
Project End
2006-11-30
Budget Start
2004-12-01
Budget End
2006-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$75,500
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Delaware
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Allied Health Profes
DUNS #
059007500
City
Newark
State
DE
Country
United States
Zip Code
19716
Heathcock, Jill C; Lobo, Michele; Galloway, James C Cole (2008) Movement training advances the emergence of reaching in infants born at less than 33 weeks of gestational age: a randomized clinical trial. Phys Ther 88:310-22
Lee, H M; Bhat, A; Scholz, J P et al. (2008) Toy-oriented changes during early arm movements IV: shoulder-elbow coordination. Infant Behav Dev 31:447-69
Lynch, A; Lee, H M; Bhat, A et al. (2008) No stable arm preference during the pre-reaching period: a comparison of right and left hand kinematics with and without a toy present. Dev Psychobiol 50:390-8
Bhat, A N; Lee, H M; Galloway, J C (2007) Toy-oriented changes in early arm movements II--joint kinematics. Infant Behav Dev 30:307-24
Bhat, A N; Galloway, J C (2007) Toy-oriented changes in early arm movements III: constraints on joint kinematics. Infant Behav Dev 30:515-22
Bhat, A N; Galloway, J C (2006) Toy-oriented changes during early arm movements: hand kinematics. Infant Behav Dev 29:358-72