Proprioceptive and visual motion detection acuity contribute to children dynamic postural control

Acquiring efficient postural control strategies is key to childrens proper motor development. For that, the brain needs to continuously integrate sensory information and convert it into corrective motor commands. Although this entire process naturally hinges on the reliability of early senses, very few studies have investigated early sensory acuity and its role in postural stability during development. Clarifying this could lead to a better understanding of conditions, such as developmental coordination disorder (DCD), where the impairment of balance control is substantial. Here, we tested 25 typically developed school-aged children with a Visual Motion Detection test (VMDT), an ankle Joint Position Sense test (aJPST), force-plate assessed posturography, and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children - Second edition (MABC-2). We found a significant correlation between the balance score of the MABC-2 and both VMDT score (r = 0.60, p = 0.003) and aJPST score (r = -0.47, p = 0.02). However, no such relationship was found between the force-plate assessed sway amplitude during upright standing and the two sensory acuity scores. Importantly, the MABC-2 balance scores were associated with upright stability, but only to a limited extent. Given that the MABC-2 balance component factors in static and dynamic balance while posturography focuses only on static balance, our results point at a key role of early sensory acuity for dynamic balance. Together, these findings bring attention to possible clinical tools for motor impairment detection and subsequent rehabilitation strategies during development.