Manual Motor Planning Deficits and Performance Differences in Children With Autism Spectrum Condition: a Kinematic Analysis to Extract Objective Markers of Motor Atypia
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Autism
- Sponsor
- Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica
- Enrollment
- 60
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Quantity of motion
- Status
- Recruiting
- Last Updated
- 2 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) is a behavioral syndrome characterized by a severe organizational disorder of thinking and major functions that regulate human adaptation. It is to be considered as a functional disorder, or of executive functions, whose dysfunction is expressed in the difficulty of making voluntary movements, sequentially coordinated with each other according to a purpose, and of initiating an action, planning and monitoring it by inhibiting inappropriate responses such as gesture perseveration. Literature studies suggest that, compared to children with typical development (TD) and regardless of cognitive status, children with ASC have pervasive motor dysfunction that results in universal difficulties in several aspects of motor function, including - (1) fine motricity, (2) some aspects of praxis while performing tasks based on imitation of sequences, (3) simultaneous coordination of both sides of the body during rhythmic tasks of the upper limbs, and́ (4) interpersonal coordination and synchrony. The hypothesis of the study is that by comparing these aspects in 2 groups of children with ASC and children with TD using A.I. systems, it will be possible to extract objective markers of motor deficits found in autism, facilitating the validation of measurements acquired with clinical scales. The objective of the study is to investigate the characteristics of manual motor planning and performance difficulties in children with ASC using kinematic measurements. 30 ASC children with medium-high functioning and 30 TD children, aged 7 to 13 years, IQ > 80, in the absence of motor deficits due to another clinical condition, will be recruited. The protocol will take place in a single session during which children will be video-recorded performing simple and complex rhythmic upper limb actions with a social partner. The presence of characteristic fine motor behaviors, practice errors, perseverations, movement variability, and interpersonal synchrony will be observed. The study will involve the use of 3 tasks contained in NEPSY-II: Finger tapping, Visual-motor precision, and Imitation of manual motor sequences. The videos will be recorded simultaneously and the different angles will allow hand kinematics to be extracted and analyzed with A.I. algorithms to measure displacement, velocity, acceleration, frequency and any other kinematic parameters highlighted. Thus, it is expected to identify objective markers of motor deficits found in children with ASC.
Investigators
Flavia Marino
Head of Unit
Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Diagnosis of Autism
Exclusion Criteria
- •Motor deficits due to another clinical condition
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Quantity of motion
Time Frame: The recording session needs approximately 20 minutes to complete.
In a single session the children will be video-recorded while performing simple and complex rhythmic actions of the upper limbs with a social partner. The presence of characteristic motor behaviors, practice errors, perseverations, and movement variability will be observed. During the execution of the three blocks of tasks (finger tapping, visuo-motor precision, and manual motor sequences) four GOPRO cameras, mounted on tripods in different angles of the room, record videos simultaneously. The videos will be analyzed through Artificial Intelligence algorithms to determine the quantity of motion.
Angular speed
Time Frame: The recording session needs approximately 20 minutes to complete.
In a single session the children will be video-recorded while performing simple and complex rhythmic actions of the upper limbs with a social partner. The presence of characteristic motor behaviors, practice errors, perseverations, and movement variability will be observed. During the execution of the three blocks of tasks (finger tapping, visuo-motor precision, and manual motor sequences) four GOPRO cameras, mounted on tripods in different angles of the room, record videos simultaneously. The videos will be analyzed through Artificial Intelligence algorithms to determine the movement's angular speed in radians per second (rad/s).
Speed
Time Frame: The recording session needs approximately 20 minutes to complete.
In a single session the children will be video-recorded while performing simple and complex rhythmic actions of the upper limbs with a social partner. The presence of characteristic motor behaviors, practice errors, perseverations, and movement variability will be observed. During the execution of the three blocks of tasks (finger tapping, visuo-motor precision, and manual motor sequences) four GOPRO cameras, mounted on tripods in different angles of the room, record videos simultaneously. The videos will be analyzed through Artificial Intelligence algorithms to determine the movement's speed in millimeter per second (mm/s).
Acceleration
Time Frame: The recording session needs approximately 20 minutes to complete.
In a single session the children will be video-recorded while performing simple and complex rhythmic actions of the upper limbs with a social partner. The presence of characteristic motor behaviors, practice errors, perseverations, and movement variability will be observed. During the execution of the three blocks of tasks (finger tapping, visuo-motor precision, and manual motor sequences) four GOPRO cameras, mounted on tripods in different angles of the room, record videos simultaneously. The videos will be analyzed through Artificial Intelligence algorithms to determine the movement's acceleration in millimeter per square second (mm/s2).
Reaction time and latency
Time Frame: The recording session needs approximately 20 minutes to complete.
In a single session the children will be video-recorded while performing simple and complex rhythmic actions of the upper limbs with a social partner. The presence of characteristic motor behaviors, practice errors, perseverations, and movement variability will be observed. During the execution of the three blocks of tasks (finger tapping, visuo-motor precision, and manual motor sequences) four GOPRO cameras, mounted on tripods in different angles of the room, record videos simultaneously. The videos will be analyzed through Artificial Intelligence algorithms to determine the movement's reaction time and latency in seconds (s).
Frequency
Time Frame: The recording session needs approximately 20 minutes to complete.
In a single session the children will be video-recorded while performing simple and complex rhythmic actions of the upper limbs with a social partner. The presence of characteristic motor behaviors, practice errors, perseverations, and movement variability will be observed. During the execution of the three blocks of tasks (finger tapping, visuo-motor precision, and manual motor sequences) four GOPRO cameras, mounted on tripods in different angles of the room, record videos simultaneously. The videos will be analyzed through Artificial Intelligence algorithms to determine the frequency in Hertz (Hz) of the movements.
Secondary Outcomes
- Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence - Second Edition (WASI-II)(The evaluation session will be scheduled before of kinematics measurements. The test needs approximately 25-40 minutes to complete.)
- Movement Assessment Battery for Children - Second Edition (MABC-2)(The evaluation session will be scheduled before of kinematics measurements. The test needs approximately 20-40 minutes. The checklist needs approximately 10 minutes.)
- Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)(The evaluation session will be scheduled before of kinematics measurements. Questionnaires take 10 minutes to administer.)