Peer-reviewed article
Diminished Performance and Learning of a Novel Visuomotor Skill in Children Born Preterm.
Nemanich ST, Kemmel-Bartletti C, Mia MR, Ahamed I, Bansal N ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study compared motor skill learning between children born prematurely and those born at term age. Children aged 5-8 years completed computerized visuomotor tasks involving single-hand and two-hand movements, tested at initial practice, 24 hours, and 7 days later. Preterm children showed slower speed and less accuracy than term-born children on both tasks, though all children were able to learn and retain the new skills similarly.
Key points
- Preterm children demonstrated reduced speed and accuracy on both unimanual and bimanual visuomotor tasks compared to term-born children
- All children performed better on the unimanual (single-hand) version of the task than the bimanual (two-hand) version
- Retention of learned skills at 24 hours and 7 days was similar between preterm and term-born groups
- Preterm children were capable of learning new visuomotor patterns despite initial performance deficits
- Biological age showed only a small, nonlinear relationship with motor performance
Limitations
The study does not identify which countries the participants were from or provide detailed demographic information. The small sample size of preterm children (N=14) and lack of information about severity of prematurity or other risk factors limits generalisability of findings.
Abstract
Premature birth has long-term effects on sensory, motor, and cognitive development. Despite evidence of impaired motor function in young children born preterm, there is less known about motor learning and the characterization of the acquisition and retention of motor skills in this population. Furthermore, bimanual movements, important for performing everyday activities, may be preferentially affected in preterm children. In this study, we compared unimanual and bimanual motor skill learning in young children born preterm compared to children born at term age. Unimanual and bimanual de novo visuomotor learning tasks were implemented on a computerized tablet (Apple iPad). Fifty-five participants (N = 14 preterm), corrected age 5-8 years, completed three testing sessions: initial practice (72 practice attempts), 24-h retention (24 practice attempts), and 7-day retention (24 practice attempts). Speed (completion time) and accuracy (movement path length) characterized motor performance. Learning was determined by comparing performance at the end of initial practice to each retention test. Overall, preterm children exhibited reduced speed and accuracy on both tasks compared to term-born children. All children performed better on the unimanual version of the task. Retention was similar between groups and tasks. Biological age had a small, nonlinear relationship with performance. These results confirm that preterm children have impaired unimanual and bimanual skills but are capable of learning new visuomotor patterns, with potential differences in skill retention. This evidence provides insight into the varied trajectories of motor development of preterm children.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Computerized tablet-based visuomotor skill training tasks (unimanual and bimanual versions) with three testing sessions: initial practice, 24-hour retention, and 7-day retention
- Population
- 55 children aged 5-8 years corrected age, including 14 born preterm and 41 born at term
Key finding
Preterm children exhibited reduced speed (longer completion times) and reduced accuracy (longer movement path length) compared to term-born children on both tasks