Visuomotor skill learning in young adults with Down syndrome

Background: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have impaired general motor skills compared to typically developed (TD) individuals. Aims: To gain knowledge on how young adults with DS learn and retain new motor skills. Methods and Procedures: A DS-group (mean age = 23.9 +/- 3 years, N = 11), and an age-matched TD-group (mean age 22.8 +/- 1.8, N = 14) were recruited. The participants practiced a visuomotor accuracy tracking task (VATT) in seven blocks (10.6 min). Online and offline effects of practice were assessed based on tests of motor performance at baseline immediate and 7-day retention. Outcomes and Results: The TD-group performed better than the DS-group on all blocks (all P < 0.001). Both groups improved VATT-performance online from baseline to immediate retention, (all P < 0.001) with no difference in online effect between groups. A significant between-group difference was observed in the offline effect (Delta TD -Delta DS, P = 0.04), as the DS-group's perfor-mance at 7-day retention was equal to their performance at immediate retention (Delta DS, P > 0.05), whereas an offline decrease in performance was found in the TD-group (Delta TD, P < 0.001). Conclusions and Implications: Visuomotor pinch force accuracy is lower for adults with DS compared to TD. However, adults with DS display significant online improvements in perfor-mance with motor practice similar to changes observed for TD. Additionally, adults with DS demonstrate offline consolidation following motor learning leading to significant retention effects.