Picture book stories are an important tool for teaching creative dance to children. This article presents a dance activity using a picture book story that educators can use to promote movement exploration and creativity.

Placebo and nocebo effects could influence the perceived, actual, or both postural stabilities. Therefore, this experiment examined whether postural stability is susceptible to placebo and nocebo effects. Driven by expectations, these cognitions could influence the motor stability of people in physical rehabilitation and those with motion…

Background: Adults with intellectual disabilities often experience mobility limitations. Baduanjin, a mindfulness-based exercise intervention, can exert positive effects on functional mobility and balance. This study examined the impact of Baduanjin on physical functioning and balance of adults with intellectual disabilities. Method: Twenty-nine…

Atypical sensory perception and motor impairments are primary features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that indicate atypical development and predict social and non-social challenges. However, their link is poorly understood. Sensory perception is often integrated with motor processes when a sensory effect is temporally contiguous with the motor…

This study aimed to understand the motor competence (MC) level of Czech school-age children determined using the product-oriented Bruininks--Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (second edition) and to analyze the gender and age differences. The MC level in n = 637 children aged 6.0--11.0 years (46.6% girls) was evaluated using total motor…

The purpose of this position paper is to raise awareness of intriguing interdisciplinary intersections among physical activity, motor learning/development, creativity, and cognition. A major intersection is the potential of physical activity that involves the effortful learning of novel and/or complex movement actions to elicit cognitive…

Background: Cycling is a foundational movement skill which represents an important motor milestone to achieve in children's lives. The use of a bicycle with training wheels is the most common approach for learning how to cycle, although some evidence suggests that this approach is counterproductive. Purpose: Underpinned by an ecological dynamics…

Educationally-oriented measures of handwriting fluency--tasks such as written alphabet recall and sentence copying--conflate graphomotor skill and various higher-level abilities. Direct measurement of pen control when forming letters requires analysis of pen-tip velocity associated with the production of sub-letter features that, in a skilled…

Purpose: In a previous publication, we observed that maximum speech performance in a nonclinical sample of young adult speakers producing "alternating" diadochokinesis (DDK) sequences (e.g., rapidly repeating "pataka") was associated with cognitive control: Those with better cognitive switching abilities (i.e., switching…

Recent research suggests that both a holistic focus of attention (i.e., focusing on the general feeling of a movement) and an external focus of attention improve motor performance relative to an internal focus of attention. The purpose of this study was to determine how a holistic, internal, and external focus impacts torque production and…

A profound grasp of anatomy is indispensable for shaping competent and safe medical practitioners. This knowledge acquisition is pivotal in the early stages of medical education and remains crucial throughout clinical training. However, the evolving landscape of medical education has ushered in changes to the anatomy curriculum, marked by a…

Several studies have demonstrated balance impairments in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). However, a recent meta-analysis reports that none of the existing studies investigated the entire construct of balance across the same postural task. It is unclear whether anticipatory postural adjustments before voluntary unperturbed…

The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the influence of relative age effect (RAE) on motor competences (MC) and physical fitness (PF) of preschool children. The search was conducted through three different databases: Web of Science, Scopus and EBSCO up to 11 August 2023. This study was conducted and reported according to the PRISMA…

Given inconsistent findings in the literature as to the effects of interventions on motor skills in individuals with Down syndrome (DS), the purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of interventions on motor skills in individuals with DS by using meta-analysis procedures. A systematic database and manual search identified 15 studies…

The aim of this research was to study the effect of a horseback-riding programme on postural control in a group of autistic children (ASD). Nine children aged 9 to 12 years participated in this study through a multiple baseline across subjects design. The whole programme took place over nine months. Participants followed a previously developed…