A Clinical Framework for Video Head Impulse Testing and Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential Assessments in Primary School-Aged Children.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to offer normative data and age trends of an age-appropriate vestibular test protocol in a large group (n = 140) of school-aged children (6 to 13 years old) as well as to provide a practical and clinical framework for accurate performance and interpretation of vestibular test results in this specific age group. DESIGN: The typically developing participants (mean age of 9.51 ± 2.04 years) were recruited to provide a representative group of 20 children for each of the seven age groups that were composed of children aged from 6 to 13 years in 1-year intervals. Each age group consisted of 10 boys and 10 girls. The protocol comprises the video head impulse test, and cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential assessments to provide a child-friendly, noninvasive, short, and portable test battery, which is equally applicable in the hospital and office-practice, and which provides information on the integrity of all five parts of the peripheral vestibular system. RESULTS: The study demonstrates that all included tests and methods, with an overall test duration of 25 min 12 sec ± 5 min 10 sec, were feasible to perform in primary school-aged children, taking into account some practical adaptations. Concerning the video head impulse test, no clinically relevant sex and age effects were noted. However, t tests revealed significant differences for the mean gain of the horizontal (right > left; t [139] = 14.563; p < 0.001) and posterior semicircular canals (left > right; t [139] = -4.823; p < 0.001) between both sides. For the cVEMP assessment, no laterality differences were observed for any of the parameters, but a significantly shorter N1 latencies in the youngest age categories (<8 years), compared with the oldest groups were observed [ F (6,118) = 8.336; p < 0.001; partial ƞ ² = 0.298]. For all oVEMP parameters, no laterality, sex, or age differences were seen. On the basis of the presented normative data, cutoff criteria were proposed with accompanying clinical recommendations to perform vestibular function testing in this target population. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in a large group of school-aged children offering normative data and age trends of an age-appropriate vestibular test protocol that evaluates the integrity of all parts of the peripheral vestibular organ. The reported normative values and clinical cutoff values will enable appropriate and age-specific interpretation of clinical and scientific results. Moreover, in combination with extensive history taking, and additional vestibular testing (e.g., rotatory chair test, caloric testing) when needed, the results of this study may support clinicians in the diagnosis of side-specific and location-specific vestibular deficits, which is required for accurate counseling and referral for further follow-up and/or intervention.

Does music affect performance on a hazard perception test for cyclists?

Whereas it has been shown that listening to music impairs the detection of auditory and visual signals, it is unclear to what extent music affects a cyclist's ability to detect and interpret hazardous traffic situations. In the current experiment, thirty-seven participants carried out a hazard perception test for cyclists. Participants were divided into three groups: control, passive, or active. The control group did the test without hearing music. The passive and active group did hear music, yet the passive group was asked to ignore the music, while the active group was asked to pay attention to the lyrics. Results showed no differences in reaction rate, reaction time, or gaze behaviour between any of the groups. These findings temper the existing safety concerns about the negative effect of music on traffic safety. Nevertheless, music might still have consequences under certain conditions or in certain risk-groups such as children. Practitioner summary: It is unclear how music affects traffic safety. The current experiment tested to what extent hazard perception was affected by listening actively or passively to music. Under the current experimental conditions, listening to music was found to have no effect on hazard perception. Abbreviation: NHTSA: national highway traffic safety administration; AOI: area of interest; TTFS: time to first saccade; FFD: first fixation duration.

Mind, body, and shuttle: multidimensional benchmarks for talent identification in male youth badminton.

The aim of the study was to identify benchmarks for anthropometric, physical performance, motor coordination, and psychological characteristics by comparing youth badminton players of different levels through the use of a multifactorial test battery. Sixty-one male participants aged 12-18 years were divided into three groups: elite (N = 10), sub-elite (N = 24), and novice (N = 27). Standard test batteries for anthropometry (including measures to estimate biological maturity), physical performance, and motor coordination were applied, as well as the modified PCDEQ2 questionnaire for psychological characteristics of youth athletes (Hill, 2016). Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) with age and biological maturity as covariates were used to investigate differences between skill levels. A discriminant analysis was used to reveal to what extent participants could be correctly assigned to their skill group. Significant differences were found in physical performance (explosive power, flexibility, speed, and endurance), BMI and motor coordination. In the psychological domain, perfectionism was found to be significantly different and elites scored highest. The discriminant analysis showed that 100% of the participants were correctly classified and 80.0% were correctly cross validated. These results significantly add to the previously limited youth players' reference values, and confirm the value of a generic, i.e. without sport-specific testing, multifactorial approach to talent identification in youth badminton.

Long-term effectiveness of a fundamental motor skill intervention in Belgian children: A 6-year follow-up.

The aim of this study was (1) to examine the long-term effectiveness of the "Multimove for Kids" program, a 30-week fundamental motor skill intervention (approximately 1 hour per week) for typically developing children between 3 and 8 years, and (2) to determine the influence of participation in organized sports on motor competence (MC) six years after the intervention. Of the 992 children who took part in the "Multimove" program, 399 (intervention group: N = 228, control group: N = 171) were tested again at 6-year follow-up. MC was measured with the Test of Gross Motor Development, 2nd Edition. To examine the long-term impact of "Multimove" on MC, and the effect of participation in organized sports a latent growth curve analysis was conducted. After the 30-week intervention, the intervention group outperformed the control group (ß = 5.57, P < .001). However, when the entire study period, including the 6-year follow-up, was considered, the intervention group made less progress in MC than the control group (ß = -0.41, P < .05). Looking at the engagement in organized sports, it was found that years of experience before the intervention had no significant influence on the evolution of MC over time, whereas a positive effect was observed for children's average sports participation (h/week) during the 6-year retention period (ß = 0.14, P < .001). Finally, children practicing predominantly object control-oriented sports during retention obtained slightly better MC scores at follow-up (ß = 0.01, P < .01). The "Multimove" intervention does not have a long-term effect on the development of MC. However, participation in organized sports has a positive influence on MC evolution over time.

Visual Cognition and Experience Mediate the Relation between Age and Decision Making in Youth Volleyball Players.

SIGNIFICANCE: Experts in different sports show superior decision-making skills compared with novices, but little is known about its development in youth players. This study shows that the age-related improvements in visual cognition and accumulation of sport-specific experience explain a considerable amount of the development in decision making in volleyball. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of visual cognition and volleyball experience on the relationship between age and decision making in youth volleyball players. METHODS: A total of 171 female volleyball players aged 6 to 17 years performed a sport-specific, video-based test of decision making, as well as four different visual cognition tests. Using structural equation modeling, we examined if volleyball experience and a latent variable constructed from the four tests of visual cognition act as parallel mediators in the association between age and decision making. RESULTS: The parallel multiple mediation model for the association between age and decision making was supported in youth volleyball players. Moreover, significant indirect effects and a nonsignificant direct effect indicated that visual cognition and experience fully mediated the relation between age and decision making and together explain 38% of the variance in decision-making performance. The effects of both mediators were not significantly different, and there was no residual correlation between experience and visual cognition, which indicates that these mediators are unrelated to each other. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that visual cognition and volleyball experience mediate the relation between age and decision making independently, which indicates that they each influence different parts of the decision-making process. These results highlight the importance of the development of perceptual-cognitive skill in young players, and future research should further investigate the development of these skills as well as their underlying factors in different kinds of sports.

The development of perceptual-cognitive skills in youth volleyball players.

In many sports, elite players outperform novices on tests for perceptual-cognitive skills, such as anticipation, decision-making and pattern recall. However, the developmental trajectory of these perceptual-cognitive skills has received limited attention. Therefore, this study examined the development of anticipation, decision-making and pattern recall in 202 female volleyball players aged between 7 and 26 years old. Participants were categorized into six age groups: U9, U11, U13, U15, U17 and Seniors. Using a video-based occlusion protocol, we assessed participants' ability to predict pass direction, decide the most optimal attack zone, or recall the opponents' defence positions. The results demonstrated that U17 and adult players had superior accuracy and shorter response times than younger players on all three tests. Notably, U9 players performed worse than older players on all tests. Binomial distributions showed that decision-making was above chance for U17 players and adults, whereas anticipation was above chance for almost all players. Our findings indicate that age-related improvements of perceptual-cognitive skills are evident at 11 years old. However, decision-making seems to develop considerably later than anticipation and pattern recall, suggesting different developmental trajectories for the different perceptual-cognitive skills. Longitudinal research regarding the development of perceptual-cognitive skills and their underlying mechanisms is warranted, as this could have important implications for talent detection and development.

Predicting the timing of the peak of the pubertal growth spurt in elite male youth soccer players: evaluation of methods.

BACKGROUND: Three commonly used non-invasive protocols are implemented to estimate the timing at which PHV most likely occurs. Accurate estimation of circumpubertal years can aid in managing training load of adolescent athletes. AIM: Three protocols were compared against observed age at PHV: an estimate of 13.8 ± 1.0 years - generic age at PHV (from longitudinal measures); an estimate based on the maturity offset equation, predicted age at PHV ±1.0 year; a window of PHV based on 85-96% of predicted adult height at time of observation. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A final sample of 23 (from 28) adolescent male participants were selected from the academy of an English Premier League club. Anthropometric measures were collected across five playing seasons; age at PHV was estimated with Super-Imposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR). The three protocols were compared based on measures at 13.0 years. Results and Conclusions: An age window based on predicted maturity offset did not improve estimation of PHV compared to generic age method; however, the percentage of predicted adult height window showed improvement in performance shown by the following results. Predicted age at PHV correctly assigned 15 participants (65%) as experiencing PHV, while the percentage height correctly assigned 17 participants (74%). Generic age and predicted age at PHV correctly predicted observed age at PHV for 14 participants (61%), percentage of adult height window correctly predicted 22 participants (96%).

Weight loss, behavioral change, and structural neuroplasticity in children with obesity through a multidisciplinary treatment program.

This study evaluated the effect of a multidisciplinary treatment program for children with obesity (OB) on motor competence, executive functioning (EF), and brain structure. Nineteen children with OB (7-11 years), who attended a multidisciplinary treatment program consisting of diet restriction, cognitive behavioral therapy, and physical activity, were compared with an age-matched control group of 24 children with a healthy weight (HW), who did not follow any treatment. For both groups, anthropometric measurements and tests of motor competence and EF were administered twice, with 5 months between pretest and posttest. Additionally, children's brain structure was assessed by performing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at the pretest and posttest, which included a T1 anatomical scan, diffusion MRI scan, and magnetization transfer imaging scan. Compared to HW controls, children with OB lost a considerable amount of their body mass (p ≤ .001) and significantly improved their balance skills (p ≤ .001), while no transfer effects of the program were observed for EF. Furthermore, the program resulted in a significant increase in total (p ≤ .001) and cerebellar (p ≤ .001) gray matter volume in children with OB, while no change was observed in the HW controls. Finally, only weak to moderate (nonsignificant) correlations could be observed between structural brain alterations, weight-related changes, and behavioral improvements. Altogether, this is the first longitudinal study showing behavioral and structural brain alterations in response to a multidisciplinary weight loss program for children with OB. Our findings support the need for multidimensional intervention (and prevention) measures for children with OB to deal with this multifactorial health problem.

Structural connectivity and weight loss in children with obesity: a study of the "connectobese".

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that obesity (OB) is associated with disrupted brain network organization; however, it remains unclear whether these differences already exist during childhood. Moreover, it should be investigated whether deviant network organization may be susceptible to treatment. METHODS: Here, we compared the structural connectomes of children with OB with age-matched healthy weight (HW) controls (aged 7-11 years). In addition, we examined the effect of a multidisciplinary treatment program, consisting of diet restriction, cognitive behavioral therapy, and physical activity for children with OB on brain network organization. After stringent quality assessment criteria, 40 (18 OB, 22 HW) data sets of the total sample of 51 participants (25 OB, 26 HW) were included in further analyses. For all participants, anthropometric measurements were administered twice, with a 5-month interval between pre- and post tests. Pre- and post T1- and diffusion-weighted imaging scans were also acquired and analyzed using a graph-theoretical approach and network-based statistics. RESULTS: Global network analyses revealed a significantly increased normalized clustering coefficient and small-worldness in children with OB compared with HW controls. In addition, regional analyses revealed increased betweenness centrality, reduced clustering coefficient, and increased structural network strength in children with OB, mainly in the motor cortex and reward network. Importantly, children with OB lost a considerable amount of their body mass after the treatment; however, no changes were observed in the organization of their brain networks. CONCLUSION: This is the first study showing disrupted structural connectomes of children with OB, especially in the motor and reward network. These results provide new insights into the pathophysiology underlying childhood obesity. The treatment did result in a significant weight loss, which was however not associated with alterations in the brain networks. These findings call for larger samples to examine the impact of short-term and long-term weight loss (treatment) on children's brain network organization.

Assessing fundamental motor skills in Belgian children aged 3-8 years highlights differences to US reference sample.

AIM: This study aimed to understand the fundamental motor skills (FMS) of Belgian children using the process-oriented Test of Gross Motor Development, Second Edition (TGMD-2) and to investigate the suitability of using the United States (USA) test norms in Belgium. METHODS: FMS were assessed using the TGMD-2. Gender, age and motor performance were examined in 1614 Belgian children aged 3-8 years (52.1% boys) and compared with the US reference sample. RESULTS: More proficient FMS performance was found with increasing age, from 3 to 6 years for locomotor skills and 3 to 7 years for object control skills. Gender differences were observed in object control skills, with boys performing better than girls. In general, Belgian children had lower levels of motor competence than the US reference sample, specifically for object control skills. The score distribution of the Belgian sample was skewed, with 37.4% scoring below average and only 6.9% scoring above average. CONCLUSION: This study supported the usefulness of the TGMD-2 as a process-oriented instrument to measure gross motor development in early childhood in Belgium. However, it also demonstrated that caution is warranted when using the US reference norms.

Convergent and Divergent Validity Between the KTK and MOT 4-6 Motor Tests in Early Childhood.

The aim of this study was to investigate the convergent and divergent validity between the Body Coordination Test for Children (KTK) and the Motor Proficiency Test for 4- to 6-Year-Old Children (MOT 4-6). A total of 638 children (5-6 yr old) took part in the study. The results showed a moderately positive association between the total scores of both tests (rs = .63). Moreover, the KTK total score correlated more highly with the MOT 4-6 gross motor score than with the MOT 4-6 fine motor score (rs = .62 vs. .32). Levels of agreement were moderate when identifying children with moderate or severe motor problems and low at best when detecting children with higher motor-competence levels. This study provides evidence of convergent and divergent validity between the KTK and MOT 4-6. However, given the moderate to low levels of agreement, either measurement may lead to possible categorization errors. Therefore, it is recommended that children's motor competence not be judged based on the result of a single test.

Convergent and Divergent Validity Between the KTK and MOT 4-6 Motor Tests in Early Childhood.

The aim of this study was to investigate the convergent and divergent validity between the Body Coordination Test for Children (KTK) and the Motor Proficiency Test for 4- to 6-Year-Old Children (MOT 4-6). A total of 638 children (5-6 yr old) took part in the study. The results showed a moderately positive association between the total scores of both tests (r(s) = .63). Moreover, the KTK total score correlated more highly with the MOT 4-6 gross motor score than with the MOT 4-6 fine motor score (r(s) = .62 vs. .32). Levels of agreement were moderate when identifying children with moderate or severe motor problems and low at best when detecting children with higher motor-competence levels. This study provides evidence of convergent and divergent validity between the KTK and MOT 4-6. However, given the moderate to low levels of agreement, either measurement may lead to possible categorization errors. Children's motor competence should therefore not be judged based on the result of a single test.

An EEG frequency tagging study on biological motion perception in children with DCD.

BACKGROUND: The perception of biological motion requires accurate prediction of the spatiotemporal dynamics of human movement. Research on Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) suggests deficits in accurate motor prediction, raising the question whether not just action execution, but also action perception is perturbed in this disorder. AIMS: To examine action perception by comparing the neural response to the observation of apparent biological motion in children with and without DCD. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Thirty-three participants with and 33 without DCD, matched based on age (13.0 ± 2.0), sex and writing hand, observed sequences of static body postures that showed either fluent or non-fluent motion, in which only the fluent condition depicted apparent biological motion. Using a recently validated paradigm combining EEG frequency tagging and apparent biological motion (Cracco et al., 2023), the perception of biological motion was contrasted with the perception of individual body postures. OUTCOMES AND CONCLUSIONS: Children with DCD did not show reduced sensitivity to apparent biological motion compared with typically developing children. However, the DCD group did show a reduced brain response to repetitive visual stimuli, suggesting altered predictive processing in the perceptual domain in this group. Suggestions for further research on biological motion perception in DCD are identified.

A one-year follow-up of the cognitive and psycho-behavioural skills in artistic gymnastics.

A good set of cognitive and psycho-behavioural skills are beneficial for young athletes to overcome and benefit from developmental challenges. Unfortunately, there is still a dearth of knowledge on how both these cognitive (i.e., executive functions; EF) and psycho-behavioural (i.e., psychological characteristics of developing excellence; PCDE) skills develop in youth athletes. Especially for athletes in early specialisation sports such as artistic gymnastics, the early EF and PCDE development might be important to be able to cope with the pressure and challenges that comes with a transition to the next stage. In the current study, artistic gymnasts between 9 and 22 years old were tested twice with a 12-month interval to investigate the changes in EF and PCDE. Results showed that EF developed within the youngest stage, but plateaued at the later stages. Most PCDE did not seem to change over time within each stage. Furthermore, the transition to a new stage does not seem to coincide with an increased improvement of PCDE. However, with a case study approach in the oldest stages, still inter-individual differences in EF and PCDE scores over time were observed. This study shows that EF and PCDE develop over time, albeit in a non-linear way, and along a variety of developmental trajectories.

Teamwork makes the dream work: Testing for shared perceptions on psycho-behavioural skills between athletes, coaches and parents.

Psycho-behavioural skills play a key role in optimising progression through talent development, and this study investigated to what extent athlete's self-perceptions align with those of their coaches and parents. Firstly, we examined if levels of alignment between these three raters differ across age of the athlete. To this end, 122 athletes between 9 and 18 years old (12.17 ± 2.41 years old; 47 gymnasts, 13 cyclists and 62 badminton players) completed a psycho-behavioural questionnaire. The ANOVA's indicated low levels of correspondence between the ratings of the athlete, the coach and the parents during childhood, while better levels of shared perceptions were found in adolescence. Secondly, we investigated to what extent coaches and parents believed their own perception of the athlete's and the perception of the athlete's psycho-behavioural skills were accurate. Parents appeared to be more confident in accurately perceiving the psycho-behavioural skills of the athlete than coaches. Parents and coaches also believed that older athletes would be more honest on their psycho-behavioural shortcomings than younger athletes. Altogether, these findings highlight that athletes and other stakeholders in the talent development environment should strive for better alignment in perceptions on psycho-behavioural skills during the talent development pathway. With better integrated perceptions, a more functional and efficient talent development system for the athlete targeting the psycho-behavioural skills can be created.

A cross-sectional study on the neurocognitive outcomes in vestibular impaired school-aged children: are they at higher risk for cognitive deficits?

This study aimed to assess if children with a vestibular impairment (VI) are more prone to have neurocognitive deficits compared to typically developing (TD) peers, taking into account important confounding factors with hearing loss being the most important. The neurocognitive performance of fifteen VI children (6-13 years old) was compared to that of an age-, handedness- and sex-weighted group of TD peers (n = 60). Secondly, their performance was also compared to matched groups of TD and hearing impaired (HI) children to evaluate the involvement of HI. The protocol comprises cognitive tests assessing response inhibition, emotion recognition, visuospatial memory, selective and sustained attention, visual memory and visual-motor integration.Based on the results, the VI group had significantly reduced scores on 'social cognition' (p = 0.018), 'executive functions' (p < 0.01), and 'perceptual-motor functioning' (p = 0.020) compared to their TD and HI peers. For the categories 'complex attention' and 'learning and memory' no differences could be observed. Analogous to the findings of previous literature, the symptoms of a VI are often not limited to the primary functions of the system, but also comprise an impact on emotional and cognitive performance. Therefore, more holistic rehabilitation approaches should be encouraged, with a screening and attention for cognitive, emotional and behavioral dysfunctions in the vestibular population. Since this is one of the first studies to investigate the involvement of a VI in a child's cognitive development, these findings support the need for studies further characterizing the impact of a VI, the underlying pathophysiology and the effect of different rehabilitation procedures.

The importance of performance in youth competitions as an indicator of future success in cycling.

ABSTRACTIn sports, outperforming your peers at young age does not guarantee a professional sports career as an adult. To gain more insight in how performance in youth cycling competitions can be an indicator for future success, the current study (a) examined differences in success rate between future achievers and future non-achievers, (b) investigated whether the relative age effect affects these career pathways and (c) explored to what extent youth competitive performance can predict success at adult age. The sample consisted of 307 male road cyclists who achieved at least one top 10 result during national and provincial youth competitions (U15, U17, U19). Thirty-two were classified as future achievers because they reached senior elite level; the remaining 275 were classed as future non-achievers. Non-parametric analyses of longitudinal data, Kruskal-Wallis and logistic regressions were applied. These analyses revealed that the future achievers started to outperform the future non-achievers from U17 onwards. While the relatively older cyclists have an advantage over other cyclists in U15, this effect was smaller in U17 and was absent in U19. Finally, the competitive success rate of U15 cyclists could not predict success at adult age. However, for U17 and U19 cyclists each additional top 10 result was associated with 3-5%, and 6% higher chance to reach elite level at adult age, respectively. Overall, these results demonstrate that estimating potential based on competition results is unpredictable in the U15 category, however, may provide a better indication of future success from U17 onwards.Highlights The competitive success rate of U15 cyclists could not predict success at adult ageFrom the U17 category onwards, future achievers had higher success rates, and success rate has some predictive value for performance at senior elite level.Competitive performance is influenced by relative age effect in the U15 category, however, this effect disappeared as the athlete progressed into older age categories.Future non-achievers experience a significant decrease in success rate when transitioning to a new competition category.

Is Motor Coordination the Key to Success in Youth Cycling?

PURPOSE: To evaluate the predictive value of a (non-)sport-specific test battery on the future success of young cyclists, test scores were compared with competition performances 2-3 years later. METHODS: Three motor coordination, 5 physical performance, and 2 cycling-specific measurements were collected in 111 U15 (13.0-14.9 y) and 67 U17 (15.0-16.9 y) male road cyclists. In addition, maturity status, relative age, and competition history were assessed. National and provincial competition results 2-3 years later, in the U17year2 and U19year2 categories, were submitted to 2 separate 4-stage hierarchical regressions. RESULTS: The results of the model of the U15 group revealed that maturity, relative age, competition history, motor coordination, physical performance, and cycling-specific performance accounted for 22.6% of the variance in competitive success. For the U15 category, only maturity and motor coordination were significant predictors of competitive success in the U17year2 category. Maturity and motor coordination each uniquely explained ±5% of the variance. However, for the U17 group-neither motor coordination, physical performance, nor cycling-specific performance could predict competitive success in the U19year2 category. CONCLUSIONS: The current study underlines the importance of general motor coordination as a building block necessary for optimal development in youth cycling. However, considering the lack of predictive value from the U17 category onward, other features may determine further development of youth athletes. Nevertheless, it is questioned why athletes need to possess a minimum level of all physical, motor coordination, and cycling-specific characteristics to experience success and enjoyment in their sport.

Maturity-Associated Differences in Match Running Performance in Elite Male Youth Soccer Players.

PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of maturation on match running performance in elite male youth soccer players. METHODS: A total of 37 elite male youth soccer participants from an English professional soccer academy from the U14s, U15s, and U16s age groups were assessed over the course of 1 competitive playing season (2018-2019). Relative biological maturity was assessed using percentage of predicted adult height. A global positioning system device was used between 2 and 30 (mean = 8 [5]) times on each outfield player. The position of each player in each game was defined as defender, midfielder, or attacker and spine or lateral. A total of 5 match-running metrics were collected total distance covered, high-speed running distance, very high-speed running distance, maximum speed attained, and number of accelerations. RESULTS: Relative biological maturity was positively associated with all global positioning system running metrics for U14s. The U15/16s showed variation in the associations among the global positioning system running metrics against maturity status. A multilevel model which allowed slopes to vary was the best model for all parameters for both age groups. In the U14 age group, advanced maturation was associated with greater high-speed running distance. However, maturation did not contribute toward variance in any of the indices of running performance in the U15/16s. In the U15/16 age group, significance was observed in the spine/lateral playing positions when undertaking actions that required covering distance at high speeds. CONCLUSIONS: Maturation appeared to have an impact on match-running metrics within the U14s cohort. However, within the U15/16s, the influence of maturation on match-running metrics appeared to have less of an impact.

Behavioral and Neuroimaging Research on Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD): A Combined Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Recent Findings.

AIM: The neurocognitive basis of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD; or motor clumsiness) remains an issue of continued debate. This combined systematic review and meta-analysis provides a synthesis of recent experimental studies on the motor control, cognitive, and neural underpinnings of DCD. METHODS: The review included all published work conducted since September 2016 and up to April 2021. One-hundred papers with a DCD-Control comparison were included, with 1,374 effect sizes entered into a multi-level meta-analysis. RESULTS: The most profound deficits were shown in: voluntary gaze control during movement; cognitive-motor integration; practice-/context-dependent motor learning; internal modeling; more variable movement kinematics/kinetics; larger safety margins when locomoting, and atypical neural structure and function across sensori-motor and prefrontal regions. INTERPRETATION: Taken together, these results on DCD suggest fundamental deficits in visual-motor mapping and cognitive-motor integration, and abnormal maturation of motor networks, but also areas of pragmatic compensation for motor control deficits. Implications for current theory, future research, and evidence-based practice are discussed. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO, identifier: CRD42020185444.