Human motor development and hand laterality: a kinematic analysis of drawing movements

This study examines the developmental profiles of basic ‘open-loop’ drawing movements on the non-dominant hand (ND) in comparison with the dominant hand (D). Fifty-three right-handed children aged 7–14 years and 15 adults aged 27–43 years were examined. Each subject drew lines and circles of different sizes at maximum velocity with a pressure-sensitive pen on a computer graphics tablet. Small lines were drawn at 90° to the axis of the forearm (lines using wrist movements (LWM)) and along the axis of the forearm (lines using elbow movements (LEM)). Larger lines were drawn at 90° to the axis of the forearm (LEM). At both extremities, the movement frequencies of the proximally generated drawing movements increased in a parallel fashion at different levels. In LWM, the right-left-differences (RLD) were high in 7- to 8-year-old children; until puberty, the ND hand reached almost the performance of the D hand. In contrast, the RLD of the LFM increased at the same time. As adulthood approaches, frequencies of all drawings increased further while the LWM on the ND side remained stable. In adults, there were similar RLD for all line drawings involving predominantly flexion and extension movements. When drawing circles, the RLD were highest, though stable in all age groups. Hand laterality of pen use changes over time; these changes are dependent on complexity (combined/sequential cf. flexion-extension muscle activation) and on topography (proximal cf. distal movements). Distinct developmental profiles of motoneuronal populations of the cortex may be responsible for the distinct hand laterality effects and the decreasing variability of motor patterns. The drawing abilities and developmental changes on the untrained ND hand indicate that effector-specific practice plays a minor role.