PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

To prepare and perform movements efficiently, accurate action representations are necessary, formalised by computational science as “internal models”. Actions representations do not require exclusively the representation of object properties, information about the body and particularly the effector such as its posture and dimension are also crucial. Thus, effector representations need to be updated to account for postural changes, yet, they do not play a prominent role in the actual models of motor control. In addition, updates settings of both action and body representation are presumably established ontogenetically, but little is known on their developmental path. First, I investigated the maturation of action representation in children from 5 to 10 years of age, as well as the potential differences in children with Developmental Coordination Disorders (DCD). Through kinematics analyses, I sought to understand how children develop their ability to control their movements. Second, using a tool functionally extending arm length, I questioned the sensory inputs for body representation plasticity in adults, such as proprioception and vision. Third, I probed rapid body representations plasticity during the slowly changing dimensions of the body during growth. To this aim I investigated in typically developing children and adolescents tool-induced plasticity of the upper-limb representation. Finally, I discuss the relationship between body representations and motor control in adults and children, as despite being both related they have often times walked parallel ways.