Motor and perceptual recovery in adult patients with mild intellectual disability

Introduction. The relationship between intellectual disability (ID) and hand motor coordination and speed-accuracy, as well as the effect of aging on fine motor performance in patients with ID, has been previously investigated. However, only a few data are available on the impact of the nonpharmacological interventions in adult patients with long-term hand motor deficit. Methods. Fifty adults with mild ID were enrolled. A group of thirty patients underwent a two-month intensive ergotherapic treatment that included hand motor rehabilitation and visual-perceptual treatment (group A); twenty patients performing conventional motor rehabilitation alone (group B) served as a control group. Data on attention, perceptual abilities, hand dexterity, and functional independence were collected by a blind operator, both at entry and at the end of the study. Results. After the interventions, group A showed significantly better performance than group B in all measures related to hand movement from both sides and to independence in activities of daily living. Discussion. Multimodal integrated interventions targeting visualperceptual abilities and motor skills are an effective neurorehabilitative approach in adult patients with mild ID. Motor learning and memory-mediated mechanisms of neural plasticity might underlie the observed recovery, suggesting the presence of plastic adaptive changes even in the adult brain with ID.