Top-down Inhibitory Motor Control Is Preserved in Adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder

ABSTRACT

Two paradigms were employed to disentangle information processing from executive motor inhibition in adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Choice Reaction and Stop Signal Tasks were compared between 13 adults fulfilling DSM-5 DCD criteria and 42 typically developing adults. Additional analyses included 16 probable DCD (pDCD) participants, who had motor difficulties but did not fulfil DSM-5 criteria. Analyses employed frequentist and Bayesian modeling. While DCD+pDCD showed slower reaction times and difficulty initiating Go responses, no impairments in Stop actions were found. These findings indicated no executive deficit in DCD, suggesting that previous results may be explained by inefficient information processing.

Data Availability statement

CRT, SST and participant background measures data are available via the Open Science Framework (OSF; https://osf.io/9qpbv/). The background test materials are not included through the OSF, as these are copyrighted tests. This study, procedure or analyses were not pre-registered prior to data collection.

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the BBSRC.