MOTOR SKILL LEARNING IN AUTISM

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 运动检查的异常通常为了解大脑发育障碍提供了有价值的见解。这种异常在自闭症患者中有很好的记录(6，13，15，16，22，39，41，43，49，52)，事实上，可以追溯到对这种疾病的一些原始描述(23)。通过仔细研究这些运动体征，可以更深入地了解自闭症背后的大脑机制。通过对运动功能的测试，对神经学基础进行了很好的规划，有可能了解自闭症中受损的神经回路；运动体征也可以作为平行大脑系统中缺陷的标志，这对控制自闭症的社交和沟通技能障碍很重要。 在自闭症患者的运动检查中，最经常观察到的异常是复杂手势的表现缺陷。这包括那些涉及运动模仿以及其他熟练运动任务的执行(4-6、17、19、22、40、43、45)。研究人员将这些缺陷统称为“行动不便”。在自闭症发育障碍的背景下，这些缺陷可能是获得运动技能的一个基本问题，即运动技能学习的次要问题。Asperger(1961)实际上指出，自闭症儿童有运动问题，因为他们在日常生活中不通过观察他人来学习(Asperger H.海尔巴达戈吉克(治疗教育学)--引自Miyahara等人，1997年)。最近，史密斯和布赖森在1994年对《自闭症中的模仿和行动》一书的回顾中，引用了Wing(1969)的观点，指出“据报道，患有自闭症的笨拙儿童在学习有组织的动作模式(例如，跳跃和跳舞)方面特别困难”(第267页)。 运动技能学习的缺陷也可能导致发展出有限的动作和行为技能，从而有助于解释自闭症中观察到的运动刻板印象和其他重复行为。 此外，对运动技能学习的调查可能有助于阐明自闭症的核心社交和沟通缺陷的原因。发展社交和交流的手势，例如，指着别人的手，握手，安慰别人，或者参与相互的游戏，都需要学习复杂的动作模式。像新生儿一样年幼的婴儿就会模仿面部表情和手势(9、31、32)，并假设完整的运动模仿对培养“他人意识”至关重要(30)。换句话说，感知和解释他人社交/情感手势的能力的发展也可能取决于学习执行这些手势的能力。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Abnormalities on motor examination have often afforded valuable insights into developmental disorders of the brain. Such abnormalities have been well documented in individuals with autism (6, 13, 15, 16, 22, 39, 41, 43, 49, 52) and, in fact, date back to some of the original descriptions of the disorder (23). Increased insight into the brain mechanisms underlying autism can be gained from careful consideration of these motor signs. By using tests of motor function for which the neurologic basis is well mapped out, it is possible to gain an understanding of the neural circuits impaired in autism; motor signs can also serve as markers for deficits in parallel brain systems important for control of the social and communication skill impairments that characterize autism. Among the most consistently observed abnormalities on motor examination of autistic patients are deficits in performance of complex gestures. This includes those involving motor imitation as well as performance of other skilled motor tasks (4-6, 17, 19, 22, 40, 43, 45). Investigators have collectively referred to these deficits as "dyspraxia." In the context of the developmental disorder of autism, these deficits could be secondary to a fundamental problem with acquiring motor skills, i.e. motor skill learning. Asperger (1961) in fact stated that autistic children have movement problems because they do not learn by watching other people in daily life (Asperger H. Heilpadagogik {Therapeutic pedagogy}-cited in Miyahara et al., 1997). More recently, in a 1994 review of "Imitation and Action In Autism," Smith and Bryson cited Wing (1969), noting that, "clumsy children with autism reportedly have particular difficulty with learning organized patterns of movements (e.g., skipping and dancing)" (p. 267). Deficiencies in motor skill learning could also result in development of a limited repertoire of movements and behaviors and might thereby help to explain observations of motor stereotypies and other repetitive behaviors in autism. Further, investigations of motor skill learning might help to elucidate the cause of the core social and communicative deficits that characterize autism. Development of social and communicative gestures, for instance pointing, shaking another person's hand, offering comfort to someone, or engaging in reciprocal play, involves learning complex patterns of movements. Infants as young as newborns engage in imitation of facial expression and manual gestures (9, 31, 32), and it has been hypothesized that intact motor imitation is crucial in developing a sense of "other minds" (30). In other words, development of the ability to perceive and interpret other's social/emotional gestures may also depend upon the ability to learn to execute those gestures.