Title:Insights in Developmental Coordination Disorder
VOLUME: 13 ISSUE: 2
Author(s):Marie Farmer, Bernard Échenne, Régen Drouin and M'hamed Bentourkia*
Affiliation:Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiobiology, 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke (Qc) J1H 5N4, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiobiology, 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke (Qc) J1H 5N4, Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, 2705 Bd Laurier, Quebec City, G1V 4G2, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiobiology, 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke (Qc) J1H 5N4
Keywords:DCD, movement disorder, brain development, learning, motor impairment, neurological dysfunctions, dyspraxia,
clumsiness.
Abstract:Background: Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a neurological impairment
occurring in nearly 6% of general population, and sometimes mimics other developmental
disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or, in the most severe cases, intellectual
deficiency.
Objectives: To review the general portrait of DCD, the physiology, the clinical assessments, and to
provide an overview of functional studies on the subject. We finally report some proposed DCD
managements which vary depending on the manifestation of the disorder and on the goals of the
therapy.
Results: DCD can be stated as a sum of fine motor, perceptual visual and executive difficulties,
emerging during childhood brain development and lasting throughout adulthood. Even if DCD can
be isolated from other co-morbidities in certain individuals, it is still difficult to categorize it in delimited
subclasses of characteristics, e.g. problems of vision or language. The findings in functional
imaging also diverge in locating the cerebral deficit for a given motor task.
Conclusion: Finding a single explanation seems difficult as many cerebral regions are associated
with DCD and many clinical aspects are involved, but, further studies could explore genetic (or
epigenetic) explanation for the prevalence of DCD in population.
