Abstract
The development of motor activation and inhibition was compared in 6-to-12 year-olds. Children had to initiate or stop the externally paced movements of one hand, while maintaining that of the other hand. The time needed to perform the switching task (RT) and the spatio-temporal variables show different agerelated evolutions depending on the coordination pattern (inor anti-phase) and the type of transition (activation, selective inhibition, non selective inhibition) required. In the anti-phase mode, activation perturbs the younger subjects’ responses while temporal and spatial stabilities transiently decrease around 9 years when activating in the in-phase mode. Aged-related changes differed between inhibition and activation in the antiphase mode, suggesting either the involvement of distinct neural networks or the existence of a single network that is reorganized. In contrast, stopping or adding one hand in the in-phase mode shows similar aged-related improvement. We suggest that selectively stopping or activating one arm during symmetrical coordination rely on the two faces of a common processing in which activation could be the release of inhibition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bjorklund, D.E. and Harnishfeger, K.K., The Evolution of Inhibition Mechanisms and Their Role in Human Cognition and Behaviour, Interference and Inhibition in Cognition, Dempster, F.N. and Brainerd, C.J., Eds., San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1995, p. 141.
Jonkman, L.M., The Development of Preparation, Conflict Monitoring and Inhibition from Early Childhood to Young Adulthood: A Go/Nogo ERP Study, Brain Research, 2006, vol. 1097, no. 1, p. 181.
Nichelli, F., Scala, G., Vago, C., et al., Age-Related Trends in Stroop and Conflicting Motor Response Task Findings, Child Neuropsychology, 2005, vol. 11, no. 5, p. 431.
Tsujimoto, S., Kuwajima, M., and Sawaguchi, T., Developmental Fractionation of Working Memory and Response Inhibition during Childhood, Experimental Psychology, 2007, vol. 54, no. 1, p. 30.
Diamond, A. and Taylor, C., Development of an Aspect of Executive Control: Development of the Abilities to Remember what I Said and to “Do as I Say, not as I Do,” Developmental Psychobiology, 1996, vol. 29, no. 4, p. 315.
Reed, M., Pien, D., and Rothbart, M.K., Inhibitory Self-Control in Preschool Children, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1984, vol. 30, p. 131.
Kochanska, G., Murray, K., and Coy, K.C., Inhibitory Control as a Contributor to Conscience in Childhood: from Toddler to Early School Age, Child Development, 1997, vol. 68, no. 2, p. 263.
Harnishfeger, K.K., The Development of Cognitive Inhibition: Theories, Definitions and Research Evidence, Interference and Inhibition in Cognition, Dempster, F.N. and Brainerd, C.J., Eds., San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1995.
de Jong, R., Coles, M.G.H., and Logan, G.D., Strategies and Mechanisms in Nonselective and Selective Inhibitory Motor Control, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1995, vol. 21, no. 3, p. 498.
Coxon, J.P., Stinear, C.M., and Byblow, W.D., Selective Inhibition of Movement, Journal of Neurophysiology, 2007, vol. 97, p. 2480.
Band, G.P.H., van der Molen, M.W., Overtoom, C.C.K., and Verbaten, M.N., The Ability to Activate and Inhibit Speeded Responses: Separate Developmental Trends, J. Experimental Child Psychology, 2000, vol. 75, no. 4, p. 263.
Bedard, A.-C., Nichols, S., Barbosa, J.A., et al., The Development of Selective Inhibition Control Across the Life Span, Developmental Neuropsychology, 2002, vol.21, no. 1, p. 93.
van der Wildenberg, W.P.M. and van der Molen, M.W., Developmental Trends in Simple and Selective Inhibition of Compatible and Incompatible Responses, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2004, vol. 87, p. 201.
Logan, G.D. and Cowan, W.B., On the Ability to Inhibit Thought and Action: A Theory of an Act of Control, Psychological Review, 1984, vol. 91, p. 295.
Logan, G.D., On the Ability to Inhibit Thought and Action: A Users’s Guide to the Stop Signal Paradigm, Inhibitory Processes in Attention, Memory, and Language, Dagenbach, D. and Carr, T.H., Eds., San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1994, p. 189.
Williams, B.R., Ponesse, J.S., Schachar, R.J., et al., Development of Inhibitory Control Across the Life Span, Developmental Psychology, 1999, vol. 35, no. 1, p. 205.
Carver, A.C., Livesey, D.J., and Charles, M., Age-Related Changes in Inhibitory Control as Measured by Stop Signal Task Performance, International Journal of Neuroscience, 2001, vol. 107, p. 43.
Carson, R.G., Riek, S., Mackey, D.C., et al., Excitability Changes Inhuman Forearm Corticospinal Projections and Spinal Reflex Pathways during Rhythmic Voluntary Movement of the Opposite Limb, J. Physiology, 2004, vol. 560, p. 929.
Geffen, G.M., Jones, D.L., and Geffen, L.B., Interhemispheric Control of Manual Motor Activity, Behavioural Brain Research, 1994, vol. 64, p. 131.
de Ajuriaguerra, J. and Stambak, M., L’évolution des syncinésies chez l’enfant: place des syncinésies dans le cadre de la dé-bilité motrice, La Presse Médicale, 1955, vol. 63, p. 817.
Connolly, K.J. and Stratton, P., Developmental Changes in Associated Movements, Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 1968, vol. 10, p. 49.
Lazarus, J.A.C. and Todor, J.I., Age Differences in the Magnitude of Associated Movement, Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 1987, vol. 29, no. 6, p. 726.
Nass, R., Mirror Movement Asymmetries in Congenital Hemiparesis: The Inhibition Hypothesis Revisited, Neurology, 1985, vol. 35, no. 7, p. 1059.
Swinnen, S.P. and Walter, C.B., Constraints in Coordinating Limb Movements, Cognition and Action in Skilled Behaviour, Beech, J.R. and Colley, A.M., Eds., Oxford, England: North-Holland, 1988, p. 127.
Yakovlev, P.I. and Lecours, A.R., The Myelogenetic Cycles of Regional Maturation of the Brain, Regional Development of the Brain in Early Life, Minkowski, A., Ed., Oxford, England: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1967.
Swinnen, S.P. and Wenderoth, N., Two Hands, One Brain: Cognitive Neuroscience of Bimanual Skill, TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences, 2004, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 18.
Sternad, D., Wei, K., Diedrichsen, J., and Ivry, R.B., Intermanual Interactions during Initiation and Production of Rhythmic and Discrete Movements in Individuals Lacking a Corpus Callosum, Experimental Brain Research, 2007, vol. 176, no. 4, p. 559.
Fagard, J., Le développement des habiletés de l’enfant, Coordination Bimanuelle et latéralité, Paris: Les Editions du CNRS, 2001.
Barral, J., Debû, B., and Rival, C., Developmental Changes in Unimanual and Bimanual Movements, Developmental Neuropsychology, 2006, vol. 29, p. 415.
Bryden, M.P., Measuring Handedness with Questionnaires, Neuropsychologia, 1977, vol. 15, p. 617.
Bullock, D. and Grossberg, S., Neural Dynamics of Planned Arm Movements: Emerging Invariants and Speed-Accuracy Properties during Trajectory Formation, Psychological Review, 1988, vol. 95, p. 49.
de Jong, R., Coles, M.G., Logan, G.D., and Gratton, G., In Search of the Point of no Return: The Control of Response Processes, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1990, vol. 16, p. 164.
Jennings, J.R., van der Molen, M.W., Brock, K., and Somsen, R.J., On the Synchrony of Stopping Motor Responses and Delaying Heartbeats, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1992, vol. 18, no. 2, p. 422.
Coles, M.G.H., Smid, H.G.O.M., Sheffers, M.K., and Often, L.J., Mental Chronometry and the Study of Human Information Processing, Electrophysiology of Mind: Event Related Brain Potentials and Cognition, Rugg, M.D. and Coles, M.G.H., Eds., New York: Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 86.
Serrien, D.J., Cassidy, M.J., and Brown, P., The Importance of the Dominant Hemisphere in the Organization of Bimanual Movements, Human Brain Mapping, 2003, vol. 18, no. 4, p. 296.
Hay, L., Accuracy of Children on an Open-Loop Pointing Task, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1978, vol. 47, p. 1079.
Hay, L., Bard, C., Fleury, M., and Teasdale, N., Kinematics of Aiming in Direction and Amplitude: A Developmental Study, Acta Psychologica, 1991, vol. 77, p. 203.
von Hofsten, C. and Rösblad B., The Integration of Sensory Information in the Development of Precise Manual Pointing, Neuropsychologia, 1988, vol. 26, no. 6, p. 805.
Mounoud, P., Viviani, P., Hauert, C.-A., and Guyon, J., Development of Visuomanual Tracking in 5- to 9-YearOld Boys, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 1985, vol. 40, p. 115.
Pellizzer, G. and Hauert, C.-A., Visuo-manual Aiming Movements in 6to 10-Year-Old Children: Evidence for an Asymmetric and Asynchronous Development of Information Processes, Brain and Cognition, 1996, vol. 30, p. 175.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The article is published in the original.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barral, J., De Pretto, M., Debû, B. et al. Activation and inhibition of bimanual movements in school-aged children. Hum Physiol 36, 47–57 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119710010068
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119710010068