UZH is working on standard curves for fine and gross motor skills

(CONNECT) Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Children's Hospital Zurich have investigated the question of how dexterity, coordination, strength and balance develop from early childhood to old age. They analyzed data from 1620 people between the ages of 6 and 80, the UZH reports in a press release. The test subjects had taken part in the standardized Zurich Neuromotor Assessment test between 1983 and 2023.

The test measures the fine motor skills of dexterity and dexterity, the gross motor skills of jumping and coordination, balance, repetitive and serial movements and the quality of movements. "The advantage of this test is that all age groups - from schoolchildren to 80-year-old senior citizens - perform the same exercises," explains Tanja Kakebeeke from the Children's Hospital Zurich in the press release. "Only the number of repetitions is adjusted according to age."

The results of the research show that motor skills develop most rapidly in children up to the age of around 10. Strength, balance and coordination are best developed in women and men between the ages of 20 and 35. Later on, gross motor skills, balance and muscle strength decline, while fine motor skills are maintained into old age.

The group has developed norm curves for neuromotor functions from its research. They should make it possible, "particularly in childhood and old age, to detect relevant deviations or early performance decline and, if necessary, to initiate therapeutic measures," Oskar Jenni, Professor of Developmental Pediatrics at the University of Zurich, is quoted as saying in the press release. ce/hs