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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 0.05), whereas an offline decrease in performance was found in the TD-group (∆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 performance with motor practice similar to changes observed for TD. Additionally, adults with DS demonstrate offline consolidation following motor learning leading to significant retention effects.
Højberg et al. (Thu,) studied this question.