Motor-Perceptual Function in Children with Developmental Reading Disorders

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare the motor performances and the movement-related macropotentials of 8 male children aged 10 years with developmental reading disorders with those of 9 nondisabled male children of the same age. The task employed consisted of initiating the sweep of an oscilloscope with a self-paced movement and terminating it within 50 ± 10 msec. The children with reading disorders were slower, less accurate, and achieved a smaller number of target performances. Their brain macropotentials associated with motor programming, processing of sensory information, and evaluation of the results were altered in amplitude and latency. In the children with reading disorders, the systems involved in planning strategies and processing of sensory information are inadequate and those involved in the correction of errors are less efficient. Therefore, reading disorders could express defective integration and dysfunction of numerous processes occurring at different levels and times.