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NCT Number: NCT06137625

Rhythm Effect on Dance Learning in Typical Development Children and Children With Motor Disorders.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) leads to motor troubles impacting the everyday life, social participation and academic difficulty . According to some authors, CP and DCD pertain to a same continuum of motor disorders (MD) (Pearsall-Jones et al., 2010).Those children show an alteration in Perceptivo-Motor Procedural Learning (PMPL), corresponding to the acquisition of everyday life skill (for CP: Gagliardi et al., 2011; Gofer-Levi et al., 2013; for DCD: Gheysen et al., 2011; Blais et al., 2018). Also, recommended rehabilitation for this population are based on procedural learnings (for CP: Novak et al., 2013; for DCD: Blank et al., 2019; Inserm, 2019). It's true for dancing which present high evidence to enhance motor, cognitive, psychoaffective and social functions of this children (Cherriere, Martel, et al., 2020; Cherriere, Robert, et al., 2020). Dance is a physical activity that involve procedural learning to memorise movement sequences (choreography). Rhythm can be define as a stimuli repetition at a regular interval (Grahn & Brett, 2007; Patel, 2003). Recently studies tend to shown that rhythm is essential to enhance motor control and procedural learning (Ghai et al., 2022; Lagarrigue et al., 2021). To validate this hypothesis, the investigators will evaluate typical development children and children with CP MD learning of a dance choreography with and without rhythm.

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Key information

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy (CP) Brain Damage, Chronic Brain Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Cerebral Palsy Nervous System Diseases

Age range

8 year–16 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Toulouse Hospital

Toulouse, France

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

David Gasq, MD

CONTACT

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

For all the participants:

  • Aged from 8 to 16 include.
  • Free, informed, written, and signed consent of the holders of parental authority
  • Free and informed consent of the minor
  • Affiliation with or benefiting from a social security scheme.
  • Ability to understand the instructions (investigator's assessment)

For the participant with Motor disorders (MD):

  • For children with CP:
  • CP diagnosis
  • Gross Motor Function Classification System level between I to IV.
  • Manual Ability Classification System level between I to IV.
  • For children with DCD:
  • A diagnosis of DCD

For the participant with typical development:

  • No CP diagnosis
  • No neurological trouble nor functional disfunction including developmental coordination disorder.

Exclusion criteria

  • -Autism spectrum disorder diagnosed according to the DSM-5 (APA, 2015)
  • Hearing deficiency diagnosed according to the DSM-5 (APA, 2015) or uncorrected hearing deficiency that doesn't allows the participant to hear a music with a sound level between 45 and 70 decibels.
  • Visual deficiency diagnosed according to the DSM-5 (APA, 2015)
  • Intellectual developmental disorder diagnosed according to the DSM-5 (APA, 2015)
  • Behavioural disorders diagnosed according to the DSM-5 (APA, 2015)
  • Diagnosed epilepsia
  • Pregnancy (check in young pubescent and sexually active women) or breastfeeding.
  • Children already include in ongoing interventional study.
  • Children with both parent who benefit of legal protection (guardianship, curatorship, safeguard of justice).

Treatment and study plan

With regular rhythm

Behavioral

All children learn one dance choreographie with regular rhythm music.The pre-recorded choreography is displayed on a large screen in front of the child. The child practices the choreography by imitating the models in order to learn the sequence movements.

Without regular rhythm

Behavioral

All children learn one dance choreographie without regular rhythm music.The pre-recorded choreography is displayed on a large screen in front of the child. The child practices the choreography by imitating the models in order to learn the sequence movements.

Primary outcomes

  1. Retention score of the choreography

    Time frame: Day 0

    Number of movements in the choreography performed correctly and in order after practice is analysed by video using a standardised observation grid scored independently and blind to the condition by two trained judges.

Secondary outcomes

  1. the effect of regular rhythm on Perceptivo-Motor Procedural Learning (PMPL)

    Time frame: Day 0

    The PMPL is measured by an informatised and standardised test (EVAL_App_Kids test)

  2. the effect of regular rhythm on sensorimotor function

    Time frame: Day 0

    the effect is measured by rhythm perception and production task

  3. the effect of regular rhythm on cognitive function

    Time frame: Day 0

    the effect is measured by informatised test on attention and executive function

  4. the effect of regular rhythm on psychoaffective function

    Time frame: Day 0

    the effect is measured by Intrinsic Motivation Inventory questionnaire (IMI)

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

David GASQ, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

0561322801 ext. +33

Jessica TALLET, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Toulouse

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Rhythm Effect on Dance Learning and Associated Functions in Typical Development Children and Children With Motor Disorders.

Acronym: DANS-APP

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Nov 18, 2023
Registry last updated
Dec 31, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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