Gross motor skills: what it is, characteristics, and stages of development

Gross motor skills is what allows us to perform movements of a wide range with the participation of different muscles and the intervention of balance, agility, strength and speed involved in each movement.

Typical gross motor movements are walking and jumping or more complex activities such as riding cycling or swimming, that is, movements that require the operation of a large number of muscles. When a disease occurs that affects gross mobility, this ability is limited, which is observed in individuals with lack of coordination, with clumsy, slow and imprecise.

In this article We will see what the definition of gross motor skills is, pointing out its most typical characteristics, what brain areas are involved in movement and some of the alterations or disorders that affect this type of motor skills.

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What is gross motor skills?

Gross motor skills are a type of motor skills that allows long-range movements such as moving arms or legs

and that involve the participation of different muscles of the body, being also important the agility, strength and speed with which each movement is carried out.

In the same way, this type of motor skills allows us to maintain balance and make changes in our body position in a coordinated way. Compared to fine motor skills, these are somewhat less precise and more force-related movements.

Thus, the movements that we can perform through the gross motor function will be walking, jumping, running, swimming, and cycling, among others. We see that this is a skill that encompasses different more or less complex actions; For this reason, it will follow a developmental process that begins in childhood. The child begins by crawling and will mature until he can perform more complex activities such as riding a bicycle.

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Gross motor development process

The self-development process of this type of motor skills continues two psychophysiological principles: the cephalo-caudal and the proximal-distal. The first refers to the vertical axis that goes from the head to the coccyx bone, and the second is associated with the horizontal axis from the central point of the body towards the extremities. In this way, the head will move first, then the arms, then the hands, the abdomen, the legs and finally the feet.

In reference to children, The Denver Developmental Test is used to measure the progress of both gross and fine motor skills, as well as language, personality and social development, from the first month of life to 6 years of age.

Correct evolution of gross motor skills in healthy children

The correct evolution of motor skills in children is as follows.

• At 3 months he turns over intentionally.
• At 4 months he can control his head.
• At 6, he manages to sit without any support, and at 8 and a half years old, he can do it without help.
• Begins to crawl between 6 and 10 months.
• It remains standing at 1 year.
• He is able to wander approximately between 12 and 13 months.

It has been proven that gross motor skills are essential for children to be able to move around to explore, thus discovering the environment around them. It has also been seen as important for the development of learning and attention skills, since allows training visuospatial capacities, lateral integration, orientation... related capacities with the cognitive functions especially with literacy.

It should also be noted that gross motor skills begins to develop before fine motor skills, which includes the performance of smaller, more precise movements with greater control, requiring smaller muscles.

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Brain regions involved in gross motor skills

The lobe that is most related to movement is the frontal, although there are also others involved, such as the parietal. Like all motor functions, it consists of a primary motor area and association areas; the primary motor area is number 4 according to Brodmann's classification, and the association areas (also called in this case "premotor") are Brodmann's 6 and 8.

Different phases are necessary to carry out the voluntary movement. First the preparation or planning of the objective will take place, in this first phase the dorsolateral area of ​​the prefrontal cortex intervenes, in charge of the intention and planning; And the medial area of ​​the prefrontal cortex, used for attention and motivation, and the posterior cortex and crossroads, which provide sensory information.

Another phase necessary for optimal movement is programming, in this the different regions of the premotor area will act mainly to create a motor program taking into account the spatio-temporal patterns, the desired direction and the sequencing temporary.

The last phase is the realization; the primary motor cortex is responsible for it, which is the one that generates the order, which is sent to the spinal cord to start the voluntary movement. In this way it determines the elementary characteristics of the movements and adapts them to the different environmental conditions.

The cerebellum It is another important region for movement, since it has the function of making adjustments in it, also regulating posture and muscle tone and thus allowing a correct balance.

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Pathologies that affect gross motor skills

There are different disorders that affect the correct performance of movement, which present different variations depending on when they were developed and whether they are acquired or whether the patient already had the affectation from birth, or whether there is an increase or a decrease in mobility.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic Manual of the Association of American Psychiatrists (DSM 5) classifies different motor disorders, among which we find developmental coordination disorder. This is defined as an alteration in motor skills that are below what is expected given the age and learning opportunities that the child has had. Thus, the child will show an awkward execution of the movements with slowness or imprecision in their performance.

This disorder appears during the development period, observing that children who suffer from it stumble and fall more easily from Usually, it is difficult for them to grasp and handle objects and they present muscular hypotonia, which consists of a weakness in muscle tone, flaccidity.

The manual also describes the stereotyped movement disorder, which makes references to aimless and apparently guided repetitive motor behavior. For example, flapping of the arms, swaying of the body, or a tendency to hit the head may be observed. Thus, it will be necessary to indicate if self-injurious behavior occurs and if the affectation is mild (if it disappears with the stimulation), moderate (if it is necessary to use protective measures) or severe (when it requires continuous monitoring to avoid serious injuries).

Finally, the third disorder classified within the motor disorders in DSM 5 is tic disorder. It is characterized by repetitive, rapid, recurrent and non-rhythmic movements, and can be simple motor (such as blinking), motor complex (such as jumping), simple vowels (will consist of making nonsensical sounds or noises) or complex vowels (where repetition of words). Of the different tics raised, the most frequent are the motors.

Different types of tic disorders will be diagnosed according to the type of tic that is present and the duration of these. So the Tourette's disorder has multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic, which persist for more than a year and begin before the age of 18.

Another type is persistent tic disorder, where motor or vocal tics appear, requiring them to last more than a year, and which begins before the individual's 18 years of age.

Finally, transient tic disorder shows motor and / or vocal tics, but these last less than a year, also beginning before the age of 18.

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How to treat gross motor disorders

Given the difficulty of executing certain movements, it will be essential to work and train to get an improvement and thus also help to show more confidence and security in one same. In this way, Different activities are carried out both in the health professional's office and at home with the help and collaboration of the parents.

Materials, dynamic and entertaining games for children and that help them with motor practice, can be the parachute, which consists of a cloth that allows group play, thus improving motor skills and coordination; the motor path, which allows you to gain confidence in yourself; or the shape circuits, where you can work on laterality, coordination and balance.

It can also be exercised through more common movements without the need for material; for example, through routines such as walking down stairs, walking on heels, or jumping. We can start with simpler exercises and increase the difficulty as confidence and security are acquired.