[Children with developmental coordination disorder have difficulty with action representation].
BACKGROUND
The study of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has emerged as a vibrant line of inquiry over the last two decades. The literature indicates quite clearly that children with DCD display deficits with an array of perceptual-motor and daily living skills. The movements of children with DCD are often described as clumsy and uncoordinated and lead to difficulties with performing many of the activities of daily living and sports that typically developing children perform easily.


METHODS
It has been hypothesized, based on limited research, that an underlying problem is a deficit in generating and/or monitoring an action representation termed the internal modeling deficit hypothesis. According to the hypothesis, children with DCD have significant limitations in their ability to accurately generate and utilize internal models of motor planning and control.


CONCLUSIONS
The focus of this review is on one of the methods used to examine action representation-motor imagery, which theorists argue provides a window into the process of action representation. Included are research methods and possible brain structures involved. An addition, a paradigm unique with this population-estimation of reachability (distance) via motor imagery, will be described.
Gabbard
Carl
C
Texas AM University, College Station, Texas, Estados Unidos. c-gabbard@tamu.edu
Cacola
Priscila
P
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009068:Movement; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology