Perceptual-motor Skills Research Articles

Towards Human Sensory Augmentation: A Cognitive Neuroscience Framework for Evaluating Integration of New Signals within Perception, Brain Representations, and Subjective Experience

New wearable devices and technologies provide unprecedented scope to augment or substitute human perceptual abilities. However, the flexibility to reorganize brain processing to use novel sensory signals during early sensitive periods in infancy is much less evident at later ages, making integration of new signals into adults’ perception a significant challenge. We believe that an approach informed by cognitive neuroscience is crucial for maximizing the true potential of new sensory technologies. Here, we present a framework for measuring and evaluating the extent to which new signals are integrated within existing structures of perception and experience. As our testbed, we use laboratory tasks in which healthy volunteers learn new, augmented perceptual-motor skills. We describe a suite of measures of (i) perceptual function (psychophysics), (ii) neural representations (fMRI/decoding), and (iii) subjective experience (qualitative interview/micro-phenomenology) targeted at testing hypotheses about how newly learned signals become integrated within perception and experience. As proof of concept, we provide example data showing how this approach allows us to measure changes in perception, neural processing, and subjective experience. We argue that this framework, in concert with targeted approaches to optimizing training and learning, provides the tools needed to develop and optimize new approaches to human sensory augmentation and substitution.

Investigating the driving skills-attitudes nexus for safer roads

While current research extensively delves into the importance of driving skills and attitudes concerning traffic safety, a conspicuous gap remains in substantiating a meaningful correlation between self-reported driving skills and attitudes toward traffic safety. This underscores the need for more in-depth investigation and empirical evidence to better elucidate the nature of the relationship between self-perceived driving skills and attitudes in the context of traffic safety. This study investigates the relationship between drivers' skills and their attitudes toward traffic safety. Data from 664 drivers were collected through self-report questionnaires covering driving skills, attitudes, and demographic information. Factor analysis revealed three distinct factors for both driving skills (perceptual-motor skills, safety skills, and decisional skills) and driving attitudes (attitudes toward rule violations and speeding, attitudes toward careless driving of others, and attitudes toward drinking and driving). Structural equation models unveiled a significant connection between drivers' attitudes and safety skills, as well as decisional skills. Improved safety skills correlated with less favorable attitudes toward rule violations, speeding, careless driving of others, and drinking and driving. Similarly, enhanced decisional skills were associated with a rise in attitudes toward rule violations, speeding, and disregarding careless driving of others. Demographic analysis indicated an inverse correlation between age and attitude factors/decisional skills, coupled with a positive correlation with safety skills. Older individuals had less favorable attitudes toward rule violation, speeding, careless driving of others, the combination of drinking and driving, and their decisional skills were lower. Gender analysis revealed that men had a lower favorable viewpoint toward all three attitude dimensions and reported higher perceptual-motor and decisional skills compared to safety skills. The findings underscore the significance of safety and decisional skills in shaping attitudes toward traffic safety. Demographic factors, particularly age and gender, play a role in influencing these skills and attitudes, offering valuable insights for interventions and policy considerations.

An all-purpose framework for affordances. Reconciling the behavioral and the neuroscientific stories

Research on the concept of affordance generated different interpretations, which are due to different stories aimed at describing how this notion accounts for visually guided motor behaviors. On the one hand, dispositional accounts of affordances explain how affordances emerge from the encounter of the agent’s perceptual-motor skills, with an object offering possible interactions, as behavioral dispositional properties. On the other hand, cognitive neuroscience explains what neural mechanisms are required for agents to detect affordances, resulting from an internal processing. As the literature recognized, it would be beneficial to connect these two stories. We propose an important step into this connection, showing how a dispositional notion of affordance can be distinguished into two versions, the Dispositional Account of Nomological Affordance Response and the Dispositional Account of Probable Affordance Response, and how to complement different aspects of visuomotor processing for affordance extraction, discussed in neuroscience, with them. An important benefit of our proposal is that it suggests, for the first time, that we should not prefer one dispositional account at the expense of the other. Indeed, we show that different dispositional accounts can capture distinct aspects of the plethora of complex manifestations, at the neurocognitive level of visuomotor-processing, that affordances can display in humans, both in healthy and pathological subjects.

Concept of Child Development Theory Based on Perceptional and Motor Domains

Children's motor development is very important because children are confident in their environment, including when playing with their friends, children who grow and develop without motor skills will become inferior in carrying out tasks related to their skills. The aim of this research is to provide illustrated abilities in completing certain motor tasks, to provide the ability to be able to train children's body movements during motor development and to hone children's fine and gross motor skills. The method used by the author is a literature review analysis. In the process of motor perception, environmental stimuli that are relevant to movement are recognized, appropriate movement information is sent in the form of output to the muscles to produce various types of movement. Up to the fine and gross motoric stages, perceptual motor skills are also very important in improving children's motor skills and academic abilities.

Behind the wheel: Probing into personality, skills, and driving behavior’s role in bus rapid transit crashes

Objective Personality traits and driving skills are significantly associated with driving behaviors and crashes. In the case of professional bus drivers, the relationships amongst these variables have not been sufficiently examined in terms of road crashes. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the relationship between personality traits, driving skills, driving behaviors, and crash involvement among Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) drivers. Methods The study employed a comprehensive data collection strategy involving self-reported questionnaires, including the driver behavior questionnaire, driver skill inventory, and Big Five inventory, alongside Global Positioning System (GPS)-extracted speeding data from a sample of 166 drivers. To explore the relationship between variables, the study utilized the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) as the analytical method. Result The findings reveal that self-reported violations and actual speeding performed by drivers were positively associated with crash involvement, whereas positive driving behavior negatively influences violation, errors, speeding and crash involvement. The study also found that the safety skills were negatively associated with violations, errors, and speeding, while higher perceptual-motor skills were associated with higher instances of speeding violations, resulting to a higher possibility of getting involved in a crash. Finally, the study reveals that certain personality traits (extraversion and neuroticism) were positively associated with violations, errors, and speeding, leading to a higher risk of getting involved in crashes, whereas certain personality traits (conscientiousness and agreeableness) were associated with safe driving. Conclusion The study findings offer valuable insights into the predictors of crashes among professional BRT drivers, which can be used to enhance driving practices, ensuring the safety of the public. Moreover, these findings provide transportation agencies with better management and decision-making capabilities to implement effective interventions to improve road safety.

Developing cognitive and motor decision-making skills through tactical principles and small-sided games in youth soccer

ABSTRACT This study aimed to verify the influence of 25 training sessions based on tactical principles and small-sided and conditioned games (SSCG) in developing cognitive and motor decision-making skills of U-12 soccer players. Participants were 25 U-12 elite male soccer players from a Brazilian first division national club. Perceptual-cognitive decision-making skills (quality and response time) were assessed with an objective video-based test (TacticUP®). Perceptual-motor decision-making skills (tactical efficiency) were assessed with the System of Tactical Assessment in Soccer (FUT-SAT). Both instruments were developed based on the same theoretical background (core tactical principles). The 25 training sessions were organised based on tactical principles and SSCG. The sessions were designed considering the individual needs to improve decision-making skills. Results showed improvements (p < .05) in: 1) perceptual-cognitive decision-making skills related to the decision-making time for both offensive and defensive actions and 2) perceptual-motor skills for defensive actions. We also found unexpected results for the quality of decision-making. It decreased for the defensive phase in post-test. We concluded that 25 training sessions based on core tactical principles and SSCG improved perceptual-cognitive related to decision time and perceptual-motor decision-making skills. Improvement of decision-making time apparently is related to improvement in tactical efficiency of U-12 soccer players.

A Systematic Review of the Effects of Practice, Exercise, and Sport Experience on Gap Interception Behavior

ABSTRACT Researchers have studied human perception-action systems during interceptive tasks in real or virtual situations. Training and practice may enhance perception and action in dynamic gap interception tasks like crossing a road. For relevant studies, we thoroughly searched PubMed, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate, and SPORTDiscus. We reviewed and summarized research to determine how task-specific practice, exercise, and sports experience affect perception-action capacities when intercepting a moving gap. Specifically, we examined how sports experience influences perception-action coupling in street crossing. Task-specific and sports skills may improve perception-action in everyday activities. Hence, task-specific practice and perception-action coupling in sports may increase perceptual-motor skills for dynamic gap interception tasks.

Enhancing Perceptual-Motor Skills in Sports: The Role of Ecological Sounds.

Starting approximately from the beginning of the new millennium, a series of studies highlighted that auditory information deriving from biological motion can significantly influence the behavioral, cognitive and neurophysiological processes involved in the perception and execution of complex movements. In particular, it was observed that an appropriate use of sounds deriving from one's own movement promotes improvements in the movement execution itself. Two main approaches can be used, namely the sonification one or the ecological sound one; the former is based on the conversion of physiological and/or physical movement data into sound, while the latter is based on the use of auditory recordings of movement sounds as models. In the present article, some of the main applications of both approaches-especially the latter-to the domains of sport and motor rehabilitation are reviewed, with the aim of addressing two questions: Is it possible to consider rhythm as a Gestalt of human movement? If so, is it possible to build up cognitive strategies to improve/standardize movement performance from this Gestalt? As with most topics in science, a definitive answer is not possible, yet the evidence leads us to lean toward a positive answer to both questions.

Evaluation of knowledge and attitudes regarding Alzheimer's disease and related dementia among medical students in Palestine: A cross-sectional study.

Dementia, a major global health concern, is an acquired disorder that causes a progressive decline in cognitive abilities, affecting learning and memory, language, executive function, complex attention, perceptual-motor skills, and social cognition. Our study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes regarding dementia and Alzheimer's disease among medical students. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 393 medical students in Palestine from August 2023 to November 2023. The assessment of knowledge and attitude toward dementia was measured using the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 26, and the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the mean between the groups with a 5% significance level. The overall mean score of the student's knowledge of dementia measured by the ADKS was 18.91 (±3.32 SD) out of 30. The mean score of the student's attitude toward dementia measured by the DAS was 91.68 (±3.32 SD). Clinical students had higher ADKS scores than pre-clinical students (p-value < 0.001). No significant differences in the knowledge and attitudes toward dementia were found between males and females. The medical students' knowledge and attitude scores were positively correlated (ρ = 0.227, p-value <0.001). Palestinian medical student's knowledge about Alzheimer's disease and dementia is insufficient, with students in the clinical phase showing better understanding than pre-clinical students. The findings highlight a necessity for enhancing the dementia curriculum and conducting further studies to evaluate training's impact on students' knowledge and attitudes.

Enhancing Executive Function in Children and Adolescents Through Motor Learning: A Systematic Review

Enhancing executive function in children and adolescents can have significant positive impact on their current and future daily lives. Upregulation of executive function associated with motor skill acquisition suggests that motor learning scenarios provide valuable developmental opportunities to optimize executive function. The present systematic review aimed to identify key motor learning features that contribute to executive function enhancement in children and adolescents. A January 2024 database search identified 62 eligible studies, involving a total of 4,163 children and adolescents, aged 3–17 years, from developmentally typical (35 studies) and atypical or clinical (27 studies) populations. Schools (51%), sports (22%), laboratory (11%), or home (5%) settings with 8- to 12-week programs for primarily fundamental or perceptual-motor skills but also sport, dance, and musical instrument skills were implemented to evaluate executive function outcomes in domains including working memory (55%), inhibitory control (55%), attention (48%), and cognitive flexibility (41%). Enhanced executive function was most frequently associated with gross and discrete or serial motor skill characteristics, closed or stationary regulatory environments, and variable practice conditions. Studies frequently omitted the assessment of motor learning outcomes or lacked sufficient methodological detail needed to classify motor skill and practice design features that might contribute to executive function enhancement.

Vairavimo stiliaus prognostinė analizė: demografinių ir kognityvinių veiksnių reikšmė

This study aimed to compare four driving styles among professional and non-professional Lithuanian drivers and to assess the significance of demographic and cognitive factors in predicting investigated driving styles. The study included data from 446 nonprofessional drivers (mean of age 32.6 years) and 200 professional drivers (mean of age 47.7 years) in Lithuania. The research questionnaire comprised demographic data and self-report instruments for driving styles road risk perception and driving skills (perceptual-motor and safety) assessment. An interactive, video-based hazard prediction test was used to evaluate road hazard perception skills. The study results showed that professional drivers possess a more aggressive and more careless driving style, while nonprofessional drivers exhibited a more anxious driving style. It was found that longer driving experience, better self-assessed perceptual-motor skills, but poorer self-reported safety driving skills, were significant predictors for a driving style associated with a careless as well as with aggression, demonstrated among younger drivers. A poorer self-assessment of perceptual-motor driving skills was significantly associated with an anxious driving style among both professional and nonprofessional drivers with more driving experience. Finally, this study revealed that a safe driving style is significantly predicted by greater self-assessed perceptual-motor and safety driving skills.

Early symbolic numeracy and gross, fine, and perceptual-motor skills in Mexican preschool children

The relation between early numeracy and motor skills has previously been examined, however, different results have been obtained depending on whether gross, fine, or perceptual-motor skills were considered in the study and the numeracy outcomes that were analyzed. The goal of the present research was to examine the relation between preschool children’s performance on two assessments of symbolic numeracy and gross, fine, and perceptual-motor skills. A total of one-hundred-and-twenty-three Mexican preschool children were assessed on their gross, fine, and perceptual-motor skills, their numeracy skills (i.e., applied problem-solving and symbolic number comparison) their numeracy precursor skills (i.e., number identification, cardinality and verbal counting), inhibitory control and visual-spatial working memory. Results from hierarchical linear regressions showed that applied problem-solving was predicted only by children’s numeracy precursor skills while the ability to compare two symbolic numbers was significantly predicted only by perceptual-motor skills. The study highlights the importance of perceptual-motor skills to children’s early numeracy learning. Keywords: Early numeracy skills; motor skills; perceptual-motor skills; preschool children.

Electrophysiological Evidence of Stroboscopic Training in Elite Handball Players: Visual Evoked Potentials Study.

Stroboscopic training enhances perceptual cognition and motor skills; however, neurophysiological mechanisms underlying this adaptation are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a six-week stroboscopic training program on the conductivity of the visual pathway in elite handball players, specifically related to their visual processing of retinal location and viewing conditions. The study included 22 handball players who were randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. Both groups performed handball-specific in-situ tasks, but only the experimental group underwent stroboscopic training. Participants were assessed three times using visually evoked potential recordings measured by P100 implicit time and amplitude under three viewing conditions (dominant eye, non-dominant eye, and binocular) and two retinal locations (extra-foveal and foveal vision) before and after the six-week training period, and again four weeks later. The results showed a significant TIME vs. GROUP effect of P100 implicit time for the dominant eye in extra-foveal vision (F2,40 = 5.20, p = 0.010, ηp2 = 0.206), extra-foveal binocular viewing (F2,40 = 3.32, p = 0.046, ηp2 = 0.142), and dominant eye foveal vision (F2,40 = 4.07, p = 0.025, ηp2 = 0.169). Stroboscopic training significantly improved early visual processing by reducing the P100 implicit time for the dominant eye and binocular vision, particularly in extra-foveal vision. The improvements were more noticeable in the short compared to the long term.

A Cross-Country Validation Between Kosovo and the Netherlands of the Dutch Perceptual-Motor Skills Assessment for Talent Detection in Table Tennis

Background. This study focused on the cross-country validation of the Dutch perceptual-motor skills assessment used for talent detection in table tennis which also could be the basis to create country-specific norm values in young children (aged 7 to 9). Materials and methods. In total, data from 172 children from Kosovo and 219 children from the Netherlands were compared. The data consisted of the outcomes of seven items of the Dutch perceptual-motor skills assessment evaluating gross motor function (i.e., sprint and vertical jump) and ball control (i.e., throwing a ball, speed while dribbling, aiming at target, ball skills and eye-hand coordination). A multivariate GLM analysis revealed significant differences between the two countries with large effect sizes regarding both constructs. Preliminary normative values are presented per country. Results. The results show that perceptual-motor skills can vary between children of the same age and sex between European countries. For that reason, it seems sensible to further investigate the necessity of establishing norm values per country and also the underlying mechanisms that might reveal why and how cross-country differences arise. Conclusions. Moreover, it might make sense to study an international sample of recreational and high performance youth and adult players to create a benchmark for talent detection and talent identification in table tennis. This will likely gain more insight into what the key aspects are to participate in table tennis and what is necessary for the elite level.

START-Play Physical Therapy Intervention Indirectly Impacts Cognition Through Changes in Early Motor-Based Problem-Solving Skills.

This study tested whether the Sitting Together and Reaching to Play (START-Play) physical therapy intervention indirectly impacts cognition through changes in perceptual-motor skills in infants with motor delays. Participants were 50 infants with motor delays randomly assigned to START-Play plus Usual Care Early Intervention (UC-EI) or UC-EI only. Infants' perceptual-motor and cognitive skills were assessed at baseline and 1.5, 3, 6, and 12 months post-baseline. Short-term changes in sitting, fine motor skills, and motor-based problem-solving, but not reaching, predicted long-term changes in cognition. START-Play indirectly impacted cognition through motor-based problem-solving but not sitting, reaching, or fine motor skills. This study provided preliminary evidence that early physical therapy interventions that blend activities across developmental domains and are supported by an enriched social context can place infants on more optimal developmental trajectories.

Visual Performance and Perceptual–Motor Skills of Late Preterm Children and Healthy Controls Using the TVPS-3rd and VMI-6th Editions

Background: The visual system is key to the learning process, preterm births are commonly followed by visual dysfunctions and other neurological conditions. Objective: to measure, analyze and compare the visual efficacy, visual–perceptual, and visual–motor skills of 20 late preterm children (34–36 weeks) born by caesarean section and appropriate weight for gestational age with 20 healthy controls born at full term by natural birth, age 5 to 12 years, from Querétaro, México. Methods: This was an observational, transverse, and prospective study. Parametric and non-parametric tests were performed using the SPSS 25.0. The visual acuity at distance and near, the phoria state, and the degree of stereopsis were analyzed. The Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills, Third Edition, was used to assess the overall performance, basic, sequencing, and complex processes. Fine motor skills were evaluated using the Visual–Motor Integration Test of Beery, Sixth Edition. Results: Visual acuity at distance and near (p&lt;0.001), stereopsis (p&lt;0.001), and the amount of exophoria at distance (p=0.01) showed statistically significant differences between the groups. The overall performance (p=0.006), basic processes (p=0.001), sequencing processes (p=0.02), and General and Motor VMI (p&lt;0.001 and 0.002, respectively) presented lower values in children born preterm. Conclusion: This research showed that even late preterm children present visual deficiencies and are at risk of delays on perceptual–motor skills. Early evaluation of their visual and motor abilities should be considered in order to help improve their cognitive functioning.

What neurological diseases tell us about procedural perceptual-motor learning? A systematic review of the literature.

Procedural perceptual-motor learning of sequences (PPMLS) provides perceptual-motor skills in many activities of daily living. Based on behavioral and neuroimaging results, theoretical models of PPMLS postulate that the cortico-striatal loop, the cortico-cerebellar loop and the hippocampus are specifically involved in the early stage of PPMLS while the cortico-striatal loop would be specifically involved in the late stage of PPMLS. Hence, current models predict that the early stage of PPMLS should be impaired in Parkinson's disease (PD: lesion of the cortico-striatal loop), in cerebellar disease (CD: lesion of the cortico-cerebellar loop) and in Alzheimer's disease (AD: lesion of the hippocampus), whereas the late stage of PPMLS should be specifically impaired in PD. The aim of the study is (1) to draw a complete picture of experimental results on PPMLS in PD, CD and AD (2) to understand heterogeneity of results as regard to participant and task characteristics. This review is based on the guideline proposed by the PRISMA statement. Our review reveals (1) that the experimental results clarify the theoretical models and (2) that the impairment of PPMLS depends on both the personal characteristics of the participants and the characteristics of the task to-be-learnt rather than on the disease itself. Our results highlight that these characteristics should be more carefully considered to understand the heterogeneity of results across studies on PPMLS and the effects of rehabilitation programs.

An Overview of the Available Intervention Strategies for Postural Balance Control in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Postural instability is a prevalent issue among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that affects the development of their perceptual-motor skills and social functioning. Visual and somatosensory processing deficits, hypotonia, basal ganglia dysfunction, and anxiety are some of the concurrent disorders in individuals with ASD. Nevertheless, a definite management protocol for postural instability in ASD has not been introduced yet. Hence, we aim to shed light on the available intervention strategies for postural instability in individuals with ASD. Even though several studies have been conducted on the effects of various interventions for balance control in individuals with ASD, no study has compared their efficacy, limitations, and clinical implications. This review discusses diverse proposed interventions contributing to ASD postural instability, including martial arts, water-based interventions, animal-assisted therapies, trampoline, balance training, vestibular therapy, transcranial direct current stimulation, sports, play, and active recreation for kids (SPARK), and square-stepping exercise (SSE). Enhancing motor skills, cerebellum function, and sensory input integration were some of the main mechanisms of these interventions to improve balance control in ASD. Some interventions, such as water-based exercises and video games, were enjoyable for children with ASD and could raise their treatment adherence. In most studies, small sample sizes and the lack of a control group represented their major limitations. Therefore, future well-designed randomized controlled trials are required to assess the effects of available interventions on postural control in ASD.

Advanced aging effects on implicit motor imagery and its links to motor performance: An investigation via mental rotation of letters, hands, and feet.

This study focuses on changes in implicit motor imagery during advanced aging and these changes' co-occurrences with physical motor deficits. We administered a mental rotation (MR) task with letters, hands, and feet to 28 young adults (20-27 years) and to 71 older adults (60-87 years), and assessed motor skills (gait mobility and hand dexterity) and neuropsychological performance. Compared to young adults, older adults showed lower MR performance for all stimuli and stronger biomechanical constraint effects on both hand and foot rotation. Moreover, the foot biomechanical constraint effect continued to increase during late adulthood, and declines in hand and foot motor imagery emerged at earlier old ages than declines in visual imagery. These results first demonstrated distinct aging trajectories of hand motor imagery, foot motor imagery, and visual imagery. Exploratory partial correlation analysis for older adults showed positive associations of low-level perceptual-motor skills (Trail Making Test-A performance) with hand and foot MR performance and positive associations of mobility (Timed Up and Go test performance) with foot and letter MR performance. These associations exhibited somewhat different patterns from those of young adults and raised the possibility that age-related declines in motor (and visual) imagery co-occur with declines in motor functioning.

The Correlation between Two Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor's Concentrations and Cognition.

Both lisinopril and enalapril are angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) drugs and widely used in the treatment of hypertension. Enalapril does not cross the blood-brain barrier, but lisinopril is centrally active. Our goal was to find out if there was a link between the actual concentration of ACE inhibitors and cognition and if there was a detectable difference between the two types of ACE inhibitors. Asymptomatic, non-treated patients were diagnosed by screening and the hypertension was confirmed by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). A battery of cognitive tests was used to assess the impact of randomly assigning participants to receive either lisinopril or enalapril. All neurocognitive functions were measured, especially the most affected by conditions of compromised perfusion pressures, such as hypertension, which are attention and executive functions. The lisinopril concentration showed a significant inverse correlation with mosaic test (coeff. = -0.5779) and seemed to have a significant negative effect on perceptual motor skills (coeff. = -0.5779), complex attention (coeff. = -0.5104) and learning (coeff. = -0.5202). Compared with enalapril, lisinopril is less successful in improving the components of cognitive functions.