PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Link found between time perception, risk for developmental coordination disorder

Link found between time perception, risk for developmental coordination disorder
2021-02-05
(Press-News.org) Neuroscientists at McMaster University have found a link between children who are at risk for developmental coordination disorder (DCD), a common condition that can cause clumsiness, and difficulties with time perception such as interpreting changes in rhythmic beats.

Accurate time perception is crucial for basic skills such as walking and processing speech and music.

"Many developmental disorders, including dyslexia or reading difficulties, autism and attention deficits have been linked to deficits in auditory time perception," says Laurel Trainor, senior author of the study and founding director of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind.

Previous research has shown the brain networks involved in time perception often overlap with the motor control networks required for such activities as catching a ball or tapping along to musical beats. Until now, researchers had not investigated whether children with DCD tended to have auditory timing deficits, despite being at risk for dyslexia and attention deficits.

The study, published online in the journal Child Development, provides new evidence about that connection in children.

Developmental coordination disorder is a common but little-studied condition that affects approximately five to 15 per cent of all children, who can experience a wide range of difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills. It can have profound and lifelong effects on everyday tasks such as get dressed, writing, and engaging in sports or play, and often interferes with learning, academic performance and socialization.

For this study, researchers recruited more than 60 children aged 6 and 7 years old, who underwent motor skills tests and were assessed either to be at risk for DCD or to be developing typically.

During the first study, each child was asked in a series of trials to pinpoint which of two sounds was shorter in time or had an off-beat rhythm. From this, researchers measured the threshold or smallest time difference at which each child could just barely make the correct judgement.

"We saw that indeed, children at risk for DCD were much less sensitive to time changes compared to typically developing children," says Andrew Chang, the lead researcher and graduate student in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster.

In the second experiment, researchers used EEG to measure the brain waves of children as they listened to a sequence of sounds that had been tweaked to include occasional timing deviations. Children at risk for DCD had slower brain activity in response to the unexpected timing deviants.

There are no medications to treat DCD, but physiotherapy and occupational therapy can help children improve muscle strength, balance and coordination.

"We know anecdotally that therapists sometimes incorporate regular rhythms into the physical therapy they give to children with DCD, and they have the impression this helps - for example that children can walk better when they walk to a rhythm." Chang explains.

"Although our current study did not directly investigate any intervention effects, the results suggest that music with salient and regular beats could be used for physiotherapy to help treat children," he says.

He points to motor rehabilitation featuring auditory cueing with metronomes or musical beats, which helps adult patients who have Parkinson's disease or are recovering from a stroke. Further research could help to determine whether similar therapies are useful for children with DCD, he says.

INFORMATION:

Attention editors: A copy of the study can be found at this link:
https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cdev.13537


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Link found between time perception, risk for developmental coordination disorder

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Sleep studies in children with sleep disordered breathing could influence treatment

2021-02-05
(Boston)--A new study recommends healthy children with symptoms of sleep disordered breathing, such as snoring or temporary cessation of breathing, should consider undergoing a sleep study (polysomnography) and should discuss the potential benefits of this with their pediatrician or otolaryngologist to possibly manage the child's symptoms medically and before surgery. Sleep disordered breathing is common in children and ranges from mild snoring to severe sleep apnea. Doing a sleep study provides more information on the severity of the condition. Often doctors suggest adenotonsillectomy ...

Establishment testing standards for particulate photocatalysts in solar fuel production proposed

Establishment testing standards for particulate photocatalysts in solar fuel production proposed
2021-02-05
Utilization of renewable solar energy is crucial for addressing the global energy and environmental concerns and achieving sustainable development in our society. In this regard, photocatalytic water splitting has attracted significant interest as a cost-effective means to convert sustainable solar energy into valuable chemicals. However, efficiency is sensitive to reaction conditions and experimental setup, it is difficult to compare the results obtained by different research groups or provide a reliable guide for large-scale implementation. Due to the ...

Trapping gases better with boron nitride "nanopores"

Trapping gases better with boron nitride nanopores
2021-02-05
What is common between a technology for storing energy in a solar cell and that for water purification? They both rely on the use of porous materials, or more specifically, "nanoporous" materials that can trap gas molecules within narrow spaces on their surface, called "pores", which are only nanometers (one-billionth of a meter) in size! In chemistry parlance, the phenomenon is known as "adsorption" and has played an important role in the synthesis of porous materials of different compositions, pore sizes, and even pore geometries. Traditionally, activated carbon (AC, or a porous form of carbon) has been a popular adsorbent for practical applications owing to its higher capacity of adsorption than that of other porous materials. Lately, however, porous boron ...

Anticancer drug may improve outcome for severe COVID-19 patients

Anticancer drug may improve outcome for severe COVID-19 patients
2021-02-05
Treating severe COVID-19 patients with the anticancer drug bevacizumab may reduce mortality and speed up recovery, according to a small clinical study in Italy and China that was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden between February and April 2020. On average, blood oxygen levels, body temperature and inflammatory markers significantly improved in patients treated with a single dose of bevacizumab in addition to standard care. The research is published in Nature Communications. "To reduce COVID-19 mortality, we aim to develop an effective therapeutic paradigm for treating patients with severe COVID-19," says corresponding author Yihai ...

Non-teleost ray-finned fishes exhibit mosaic genomic features of lobe- and ray-finned fishes

2021-02-05
A research team led by Prof. HE Shunping from the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered through genome sequencing that the non-teleost ray-finned fishes--bichir, paddlefish, bowfin and alligator gar--exhibit mosaic genomic features of lobe- and ray-finned fishes. The study was published in Cell. The water-to-land transition during the Devonian is one of the most prominent events in vertebrate evolution. During this transition, various organs underwent adaptive changes, particularly those related to locomotion and respiration systems. Rich fossil evidence suggests that many traits and functions related to this terrestrial evolution were present long before the ancestor of lobe- and ray-finned fishes ...

Packing more juice in lithium-ion batteries through silicon anodes and polymeric coatings

Packing more juice in lithium-ion batteries through silicon anodes and polymeric coatings
2021-02-05
Although silicon anodes could greatly boost the capacity of Li-ion batteries, their performance rapidly degrades with use. Polymeric coatings can help solve this problem, but very few studies have explored the underlying mechanisms. In a recent study, scientists from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology investigate how a poly(borosiloxane) coating greatly stabilizes the capacity of silicon anodes, paving the way for better and more durable Li-ion batteries for electric cars and renewable energy harvesting. Since their conception, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been constantly improved and adapted so that they can become suitable for vastly different applications, from mobile devices ...

Novel immunotherapy approach to treat cat allergy

Novel immunotherapy approach to treat cat allergy
2021-02-05
Researchers from the Department of Infection and Immunity of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) brought forward the potential of high doses of a specific adjuvant molecule, namely CpG oligonucleotide, in successfully modulating the immune system's allergic response to the main cat allergen Fel d 1, thereby inducing a tolerance-promoting reaction and reverting the main hallmarks of cat allergy. The researchers analysed the molecular mechanisms underlying this tolerance and proposed a pre-clinical allergen-specific immunotherapy approach to improve the treatment and control of this common type of allergy. The full study results ...

Raised mortality from cardiac arrest in people with COVID-19

Raised mortality from cardiac arrest in people with COVID-19
2021-02-05
Sudden cardiac arrest is more often fatal in people with COVID-19, a new study shows. Those responsible for the research see the results as a wake-up call for the public and care providers alike. The survey now published in the European Heart Journal is a register-based observation study. It covers all 3,026 cases of sudden cardiac arrest that were reported to the Swedish Registry for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the period from 1 January to 20 July 2020 -- that is, both before and during the pandemic. The Registry's statistics show that, in Sweden, there are 6,000 cases of sudden cardiac ...

Sensor and detoxifier in one

2021-02-05
Ozone is a problematic air pollutant that causes serious health problems. A newly developed material not only quickly and selectively indicates the presence of ozone, but also simultaneously renders the gas harmless. As reported by Chinese researchers in Angewandte Chemie, the porous "2-in-one systems" also function reliably in very humid air. Ozone (O(3)) can cause health problems, such as difficulty breathing, lung damage, and asthma attacks. Relevant occupational safety regulations therefore limit the concentrations of ozone allowable in the workplace. Previous methods for the detection of ozone, such as those based on semiconductors, have a variety ...

Energy harvesting: Printed thermoelectric generators for power generation

Energy harvesting: Printed thermoelectric generators for power generation
2021-02-05
Thermoelectric generators, TEGs for short, convert ambient heat into electrical power. They enable maintenance-free, environmentally friendly, and autonomous power supply of the continuously growing number of sensors and devices for the Internet of Things (IoT) and recovery of waste heat. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed three-dimensional component architectures based on novel, printable thermoelectric materials. This might be a milestone on the way towards use of inexpensive TEGs. The results are reported in npj Flexible Electronics (DOI: 10.1038/s41528-020-00098-1) and ACS Energy Letters (DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c02159). "Thermoelectric generators directly convert thermal into electrical energy. This technology enables ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

[Press-News.org] Link found between time perception, risk for developmental coordination disorder