Inspiring Infancy: interrelations between sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities during typical and atypical development

During the last decade it has become increasingly clear that motor, sensory, and cognitive development are all strongly interrelated. This is not only true for preschooland school-aged children, it also holds true for infancy. For instance, cognitive drive facilitates the exploration of motor possibilities, and the resulting motor behaviour generates sensory and cognitive information. Gradually, understanding has improved of the complex neural circuitries underlying this interrelated development (including the cerebellum, the striatum, and prefrontal cortex). Likewise, an increase in knowledge has occurred regarding the mechanisms involved in atypical infant development, which may or may not result in the development of conditions such as cerebral palsy (CP), developmental coordination disorder, or attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder. In May 2014 a workshop was organized in Groningen, the Netherlands, which dealt with the interrelations between sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities during typical and atypical development. Experts of neural mechanisms involved in typical and atypical sensory, motor, and cognitive development discussed their recent research findings, and the putative value of the new insights for diagnostics and intervention. This special supplement to Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology is the product of that venture. In the first paper Anderson discusses the novel insights in a new type of neuroplasticity, i.e. neural reuse. He argues that local specialization of brain areas may not be the most important organizational characteristic of the brain. Local specialization of function may be the exception rather than the rule, as each region participates in supporting multiple functions across diverse task domains. Anderson discusses the relevance of this concept for typical and atypical neurodevelopment. The paper by Coq et al. continues with a discussion on neural reorganization after an early insult to the brain. The authors summarize animal literature on the neural events occurring in the periventricular areas after early hypoxaemiaischaemia. The next section contains seven papers addressing typical and atypical development of sensory, motor, and cognitive function in children. Bremner reviews the limited literature available on the early ontogeny of multisensory representations of the body, and the interface between the body and the external world. He focusses on the development of the ability to make spatiotemporal links between bodily events transduced by vision and somatosensation, and the ability to use multisensory bodily cues to locate tactile stimuli. Dusing then discusses the coupling of sensory and motor systems in terms of movement variability and postural control in typical and atypical infant development. Belmonti et al. continue with the theme of postural control. They address the protracted development of anticipatory control and spatial cognition in locomotion and navigation, i.e. how children learn to navigate through the environment and in what way the processes of spatial navigation are impaired in children with CP. The following two papers discuss the neural basis of potentially long-term developmental sequelae of preterm birth: impaired language skills (Kwon et al.) and impaired memory (Nosarti and Froudist-Walsh). The last two papers in this section review in a systematic way the risk of adverse motor and cognitive outcome after specific neonatal lesions of the brain (Hielkema and Hadders-Algra) and the prognostic significance of neurological signs, such as a deviant performance at the Moro reaction and during the pull-to-sit manoeuvre, in high risk infants (Hamer and Hadders-Algra). The final section contains four papers that discuss intervention strategies in children at risk for or with atypical development. Cioni et al. address the complexity and sensitivity of the brain to environmental stimuli and summarize the animal and human literature on the effects of an enriched environment on developmental outcome. Van Wassenaer-Leemhuis et al. discuss in a narrative review the potential beneficial effects on child development of family-centred preventive intervention programs that support the evolvement of a responsive parent–infant relationship and parental well-being. Burzi et al. draw attention to the promising potential of action-observation therapy for early intervention. This novel approach to intervention exploits the mirror neuron capacities of the brain. Finally, Ryan reviews the limited evidence available on the effectiveness of assistive technology in children with developmental disorders. His paper concludes with recommendations how we may generate badly needed evidence in this area. The papers in this special supplement indicate the keen interest of neuroscientists and clinicians in the complex interrelationships between sensory, motor, and cognitive development. They demonstrate that as our knowledge increases, it is now more often translated into clues for intervention in children with developmental disorders. Nevertheless, there is still much to discover before we understand all factors playing a role in vulnerability and resilience in development. In order to