Research suggests that more than half of children with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental condition, experience motor impairments. An analysis in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology indicates that sports-based interventions may improve motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder, with martial arts and aquatic training demonstrating the most consistent benefits.
The analysis was based on data from 11 clinical trials of various sports. Martial arts demonstrated consistently large improvements in balance, total motor skills, and object control skills, with especially strong effects in Tai Chi Chuan and kata programs. Aquatic training demonstrated large improvements across balance, locomotor skills, and object control skills. Gymnastics and trampoline interventions demonstrated large improvements in balance and bilateral coordination, with additional effects on total motor scores in trampoline studies. Table tennis produced broad gross motor improvements, and Australian football had a large effect on object control skills and had a medium effect on balance and total motor skills. Across all sports categories, balance was the most consistently improved motor domain.
The authors noted that many of the studies had significant limitations, however, and higher-quality studies are needed.
“Organized sports-based interventions may offer benefits beyond recreation for children with autism by supporting motor skill development,” said corresponding author Sonia Khurana, PT, PhD, of Old Dominion University. “While our review identified promising effects, particularly for martial arts and aquatic training, larger and more rigorous studies are needed to confirm these benefits and guide evidence-based recommendations.”
In the animal kingdom, males develop specialised weapons such as deer antlers for competition when winning a fight is critical. Humans do too, according to new research from the University of Utah. Males’ upper bodies are built for more powerful punches than females’, says the study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, suggesting that fighting may have long been a part of our evolutionary history.
“In mammals in general,” says professor David Carrier of the School of Biological Sciences, “the difference between males and females is often greatest in the structures that are used as weapons.”
Assembling evidence
For years, Carrier has been exploring the hypothesis that generations of interpersonal male-male aggression long in the past have shaped structures in human bodies to specialise for success in fighting. Past work has shown that the proportions of the hand aren’t just for manual dexterity- they also protect the hand when it’s formed into a fist. Other studies looked at the strength of the bones of the face (as a likely target of a punch) and how our heels, planted on the ground, can confer additional upper body power.
“One of the predictions that comes out of those,” Carrier says, “is if we are specialised for punching, you might expect males to be particularly strong in the muscles that are associated with throwing a punch.”
Jeremy Morris, then a doctoral student and now an assistant professor at Wofford College, designed an experiment with Carrier, doctoral student Jenna Link and associate professor James C. Martin to explore the sexual dimorphism, or physical differences between men and women, of punching strength. It’s already known that males’ upper bodies, on average, have 75% more muscle mass and 90% more strength than females’. But it’s not known why.
“The general approach to understanding why sexual dimorphism evolves,” Morris says, “is to measure the actual differences in the muscles or the skeletons of males and females of a given species, and then look at the behaviours that might be driving those differences.”
Cranking through a punch
To avoid potential hand injury from a using punching bag, the researchers instead rigged up a hand crank that would mimic the motions of a punch. They also measured participants’ strength in pulling a line forward over their head, akin to the motion of throwing a spear. This tested an alternative hypothesis that males’ upper body strength may have developed for the purpose of throwing or spear hunting.
Twenty men and 19 women participated. “We had them fill out an activity questionnaire,” Morris says, “and they had to score in the ‘active’ range. So, we weren’t getting couch potatoes, we were getting people that were very fit and active.”
But even with roughly uniform levels of fitness, the males’ average power during a punching motion was 162% greater than females’, with the least-powerful man still stronger than the most powerful woman. Such a distinction between genders, Carrier says, develops with time and with purpose.
“It evolves slowly,” he says, “and this is a dramatic example of sexual dimorphism that’s consistent with males becoming more specialised for fighting, and males fighting in a particular way, which is throwing punches.”
They didn’t find the same magnitude of difference in overhead pulling strength, lending additional weight to the conclusion that males’ upper body strength is specialised for punching rather than throwing weapons.
Breaking a legacy of violence
It’s an uncomfortable thought to consider that men may be designed for fighting. That doesn’t mean, however, that men today are destined to live their ancestor’s violent lives.
“Human nature is also characterized by avoiding violence and finding ways to be cooperative and work together, to have empathy, to care for each other, right?” Carrier says. “There are two sides to who we are as a species. If our goal is to minimise all forms of violence in the future, then understanding our tendencies and what our nature really is, is going to help.”
There is more risk of suffering concussions or being misdiagnosed with head trauma is greater among fighters who rapidly cut weight before bouts, usually by dehydrating, researchers have revealed for the first time.
More than 60% of athletes in combat sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) reported that their symptoms worsened after they dehydrated to make strict weight classes.
These controversial weight cutting techniques involve stop drinking water and endure long periods in saunas.
MMA athletes reported concussion severity to be 40% higher compared to other sports, particularly boxing – believed to be due to the mix of striking and contact with the ground.
Published in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, the study comes after a series of tragedies associated with weight cuts, with some athletes even dying in the attempt to achieve a perceived competitive edge, by competing in a smaller weight class.
They found that as competitors dramatically dehydrate themselves to meet stringent weight classes, the associated symptoms may ‘muddy the waters’ of baseline concussion testing, due to similar symptoms.
This is because the symptoms of hypohydration – where competitors enter a water deficit – match concussive signs, such as dizziness, headaches, and lethargy.
This study has spurred further probes into the neurological implications of rapid weight loss. The researchers have called on governing bodies to check fighters’ hydration levels before fights.
Researcher Nasir Uddin, from St Mary’s University, said: “This study shows that current concussion testing does not account for the crossover of symptoms from being dehydrated, and is potentially putting fighters at risk.
“Not only is cutting weight through dehydration in and of itself dangerous, but it might actually exacerbate concussion symptoms and, even more concerningly, means medical professionals may actually misdiagnose it.
“Going forward, governing bodies should ensure hydration and baseline concussion symptoms are taken into account before and after bouts.”
The study surveyed more than 130 anonymous athletes representing six combat sports, all aged 18 or above and who had previously cut weight.
It also found that 65% of the fighters had an experience of a weight cut “not going to plan”, suffering a lack of energy, strength, power, coordination or increased susceptibility to being ‘rocked’ during a bout.
This means the dangerous practice may not offer a competitive advantage after all.
Dr Jamie Tallent, from the University of Essex, said: “This is perhaps the most surprising finding that not only are weight cuts dangerous – they leave fighters at a disadvantage more often than not and may exacerbate the risks of being further injured.”
