Specialization of the motor system in infancy: from broad tuning to selectively specialized purposeful actions

TY - JOUR

T1 - Specialization of the motor system in infancy

T2 - from broad tuning to selectively specialized purposeful actions

AU - D'Souza, Hana

AU - Cowie, Dorothy

AU - Karmiloff-Smith, Annette

AU - Bremner, Andrew J.

N1 - D'Souza, H. , Cowie, D. , Karmiloff‐Smith, A. and Bremner, A. J. (2017), Specialization of the motor system in infancy: from broad tuning to selectively specialized purposeful actions. Dev Sci, 20: e12409. doi:10.1111/desc.12409 © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2017/7

Y1 - 2017/7

N2 - In executing purposeful actions, adults select sufficient and necessary limbs. But infants often move goal-irrelevant limbs, suggesting a developmental process of motor specialization. Two experiments with 9- and 12-month-olds revealed gradual decreases in extraneous movements in non-acting limbs during unimanual actions. In Experiment 1, 9-month-olds produced more extraneous movements in the non-acting hand/arm and feet/legs than 12-month-olds. In Experiment 2, analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of infants' movements revealed developmental declines in the spatiotemporal coupling of movements between acting and non-acting arms. We also showed that the degree of specialization in infants' unimanual actions is associated with individual differences in motor experience and visual attention, indicating the experience-dependent and broad functional nature of these developmental changes. Our study provides important new insights into motor development: as in cognitive domains, motor behaviours are initially broadly tuned to their goal, becoming progressively specialized during the first year of life.

AB - In executing purposeful actions, adults select sufficient and necessary limbs. But infants often move goal-irrelevant limbs, suggesting a developmental process of motor specialization. Two experiments with 9- and 12-month-olds revealed gradual decreases in extraneous movements in non-acting limbs during unimanual actions. In Experiment 1, 9-month-olds produced more extraneous movements in the non-acting hand/arm and feet/legs than 12-month-olds. In Experiment 2, analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of infants' movements revealed developmental declines in the spatiotemporal coupling of movements between acting and non-acting arms. We also showed that the degree of specialization in infants' unimanual actions is associated with individual differences in motor experience and visual attention, indicating the experience-dependent and broad functional nature of these developmental changes. Our study provides important new insights into motor development: as in cognitive domains, motor behaviours are initially broadly tuned to their goal, becoming progressively specialized during the first year of life.

KW - Child Development/physiology

KW - Extremities/physiology

KW - Humans

KW - Infant

KW - Learning/physiology

KW - Motor Activity/physiology

KW - Movement/physiology

KW - Psychomotor Performance

U2 - 10.1111/desc.12409

DO - 10.1111/desc.12409

M3 - Article

C2 - 27255936

VL - 20

JO - Developmental Science

JF - Developmental Science

SN - 1363-755X

IS - 4

M1 - e12409

ER -