title: Associations of postural knowledge and basic motor skill with dyspraxia in autism: implication for abnormalities in distributed connectivity and motor learning.
abstract: Children with autism often have difficulty performing skilled movements. Praxis performance requires basic motor skill, knowledge of representations of the movement (mediated by parietal regions), and transcoding of these representations into movement plans (mediated by premotor circuits). The goals of this study were (a) to determine whether dyspraxia in autism is associated with impaired representational ("postural") knowledge and (b) to examine the contributions of postural knowledge and basic motor skill to dyspraxia in autism. Thirty-seven children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 50 typically developing (TD) children, ages 8-13, completed (a) an examination of basic motor skills, (b) a postural knowledge test assessing praxis discrimination, and (c) a praxis examination. Children with ASD showed worse basic motor skill and postural knowledge than did controls. The ASD group continued to show significantly poorer praxis than did controls after accounting for age, IQ, basic motor skill, and postural knowledge. Dyspraxia in autism appears to be associated with impaired formation of spatial representations, as well as transcoding and execution. Distributed abnormality across parietal, premotor, and motor circuitry, as well as anomalous connectivity, may be implicated.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neurocognitive and Imaging Research, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Dowell
authors.forename: E Mark
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Mahone
authors.forename: Stewart H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Mostofsky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001072:Apraxias / Q000209:etiology*; D001244:Association; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*
references.citation: J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2002 Nov;8(7):958-62
references.pmid: 12405548
references.citation: Dev Med Child Neurol. 2007 Oct;49(10):734-9
references.pmid: 17880641
references.citation: J Physiol Paris. 2006 Jun;99(4-6):414-24
references.pmid: 16730432
references.citation: Neurology. 2008 Mar 11;70(11):834-40
references.pmid: 18332341
references.citation: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008 Oct;47(10):1141-50
references.pmid: 18724253
references.citation: J Neurol Sci. 2007 Sep 15;260(1-2):1-10
references.pmid: 17507030
references.citation: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1999 May;40(4):649-59
references.pmid: 10357170
references.citation: Psychopharmacol Bull. 1985;21(4):773-800
references.pmid: 4089106
references.citation: Georgian Med News. 2008 Mar;(156):100-5
references.pmid: 18403821
references.citation: Science. 1996 Sep 13;273(5281):1564-8
references.pmid: 8703221
references.citation: Autism. 2007 May;11(3):225-40
references.pmid: 17478576
references.citation: Neurology. 1982 Apr;32(4):342-6
references.pmid: 7199656
references.citation: J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 Mar;38(3):569-73
references.pmid: 17665296
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2005;43(7):1044-53
references.pmid: 15769490
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Nov;9(11):856-69
references.pmid: 18843271
references.citation: Autism Res. 2008 Dec;1(6):341-53
references.pmid: 19360689
references.citation: J Autism Dev Disord. 2000 Jun;30(3):205-23
references.pmid: 11055457
references.citation: Int J Psychophysiol. 2008 Apr;68(1):35-40
references.pmid: 18313160
references.citation: J Autism Dev Disord. 2004 Feb;34(1):19-27
references.pmid: 15098953
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2001;39(2):200-16
references.pmid: 11163376
references.citation: Neurology. 2002 Feb 12;58(3):428-32
references.pmid: 11839843
references.citation: J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2008 Nov;14(6):980-9
references.pmid: 18954478
references.citation: Neuroreport. 1997 Dec 22;8(18):3979-83
references.pmid: 9462478
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2003 Mar;14(2):151-7
references.pmid: 12661677
references.citation: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2002 Feb;43(2):255-63
references.pmid: 11902604
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1997 Aug;78(2):977-91
references.pmid: 9307128
references.citation: Autism. 2008 Sep;12(5):433-56
references.pmid: 18805941
references.citation: Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 1996 Mar;3(2):131-41
references.pmid: 8713554
references.citation: J Autism Dev Disord. 2004 Jun;34(3):285-99
references.pmid: 15264497
references.citation: Arch Dis Child. 2007 Jun;92(6):534-9
references.pmid: 17515623
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 6;104(45):17825-30
references.pmid: 17965234
references.citation: Arch Neurol. 2007 Jul;64(7):945-50
references.pmid: 17620483
references.citation: Brain. 1998 May;121 ( Pt 5):785-99
references.pmid: 9619185
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2008 Apr;18(2):179-84
references.pmid: 18706501
references.citation: J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 Apr;38(4):644-56
references.pmid: 17805956
references.citation: J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2006 May;12(3):314-26
references.pmid: 16903124
references.citation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2001 Jun;25(4):287-95
references.pmid: 11445135
references.citation: Eur Psychiatry. 2008 Jun;23(4):289-99
references.pmid: 17765485
references.citation: J Autism Dev Disord. 1994 Oct;24(5):659-85
references.pmid: 7814313
references.citation: Ann Neurol. 2004 Apr;55(4):530-40
references.pmid: 15048892
references.citation: J Autism Dev Disord. 2006 Jul;36(5):613-21
references.pmid: 16609826
references.citation: J Pediatr. 2004 Aug;145(2 Suppl):S12-8
references.pmid: 15292882
references.citation: Brain. 2007 Aug;130(Pt 8):2117-22
references.pmid: 17575280
references.citation: J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2000 Nov;6(7):752-9
references.pmid: 11105465
references.citation: Cortex. 2007 Apr;43(3):368-75
references.pmid: 17533760
references.citation: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008 Jan;49(1):43-50
references.pmid: 17979963
references.citation: Cortex. 2007 Apr;43(3):411-23
references.pmid: 17533764
references.citation: Neuroreport. 2000 Aug 21;11(12):2765-7
references.pmid: 10976959