Motor control of handwriting in the developing brain: A review

ABSTRACT

This review focuses on the acquisition of writing motor aspects in adults, and in 5-to 12-year-old children without learning disabilities. We first describe the behavioural aspects of adult writing and dominant models based on the notion of motor programs. We show that handwriting acquisition is characterized by the transition from reactive movements programmed stroke-by-stroke in younger children, to an automatic control of the whole trajectory when the motor programs are memorized at about 10 years old. Then, we describe the neural correlates of adult writing, and the changes that could occur with learning during childhood. The acquisition of a new skill is characterized by the involvement of a network more restricted in space and where neural specificity is increased in key regions. The cerebellum and the left dorsal premotor cortex are of fundamental importance in motor learning, and could be at the core of the acquisition of handwriting.

KEYWORDS:

• Cerebellum
• children
• handwriting
• motor learning
• premotor cortex

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency), programme education et apprentissages [grant number ANR-14-CE30-0013 ECRIRE, ANR-16-CONV-0002 (ILCB), ANR-11- LABX-0036 (BLRI) and ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02 (A*MIDEX)].