<p>It is often said that infants / toddlers* develop in a focused manner. I am specifically interested in the notion  that a quick development of speech occurs at the expense of motor skill development and <em>vice versa</em>. </p>

<p><strong>Is there scientific evidence that speech and motor control development are indeed competitive</strong>, in the sense that a quick development of motor control inhibits speech development, or <em>vice versa</em>? </p>

<p><strong>Can they develop more or less in parallel as well?</strong> </p>

<p><sub>*With infants / toddlers I mean normal, healthy kids between 0 and 24 months of age.</sub></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T19:20:52.720Z
What do you mean with *either direction*? And the combination of neuronal growth versus speech/motor development is a big leap. In humans, the former is pretty much not investigated (aniimal research or even *in vitro*). The latter, motor versus speech  development, sounds like a answerable question. Obviously the latter canno be investigated in species other than humans as only we develop  speech. Therefore, as of now, the question is quite unclear and too  broad imo.
AliceD
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2016-06-20T19:30:57.363Z
@Christiaan the question only concerns humans (infant/toddler, I thought this would be a sufficient classification). By *either direction* I mean that the development of the motor cortex and the speech center reflects a development either in favor of move or in favor of speech capabilities. Does the development happen simultaneously or is one capability usually stronger than the other.
user190080
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T19:59:41.610Z
Can I reformulate your question as: *does faster speech development alwways occur at the expense of motor development, or vice versa*? That way, we can leave out the cellular basis of the question, as that part is 1) virtually unanswerable and 2) unclear
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T20:02:39.280Z
@Christiaan yes, you can! This still reflects the actual essence of my question (and that the neuronal part seems to be in a black box something good to know)
user190080
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T20:10:35.930Z
You may want to edit your question yourself, pinpointing our consensus question as the main question. I can do it for you, if you wish - let me know.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T20:28:27.890Z
@Christiaan please go ahead and edit the question in the way of the closest useful/answerable match you can think of (the last comment of yours is pretty much what I want to know)
user190080
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T20:45:06.577Z
How about now, is this acceptable?
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T20:50:08.737Z
@Christiaan very much indeed, thx! So you heard of the focused development as well as it seems, that's interesting. I am looking forward to some nice answers spreading some light...
user190080
<neuroscience><motor><brain-development><speech>
Does increased motor development always occur at the expense of speech development, or vice versa?
user190080
# Does increased motor development always occur at the expense of speech development, or vice versa?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-06-20)

It is often said that infants / toddlers\* develop in a focused manner. I am specifically interested in the notion that a quick development of speech occurs at the expense of motor skill development and *vice versa*.

**Is there scientific evidence that speech and motor control development are indeed competitive**, in the sense that a quick development of motor control inhibits speech development, or *vice versa*?

**Can they develop more or less in parallel as well?**

\*With infants / toddlers I mean normal, healthy kids between 0 and 24 months of age.

**Tags:** neuroscience, motor, brain-development, speech

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you mean with *either direction*? And the combination of neuronal growth versus speech/motor development is a big leap. In humans, the former is pretty much not investigated (aniimal research or even *in vitro*). The latter, motor versus speech  development, sounds like a answerable question. Obviously the latter canno be investigated in species other than humans as only we develop  speech. Therefore, as of now, the question is quite unclear and too  broad imo.  
> **username_0**: @Christiaan the question only concerns humans (infant/toddler, I thought this would be a sufficient classification). By *either direction* I mean that the development of the motor cortex and the speech center reflects a development either in favor of move or in favor of speech capabilities. Does the development happen simultaneously or is one capability usually stronger than the other.  
> **username_1**: Can I reformulate your question as: *does faster speech development alwways occur at the expense of motor development, or vice versa*? That way, we can leave out the cellular basis of the question, as that part is 1) virtually unanswerable and 2) unclear  
> **username_0**: @Christiaan yes, you can! This still reflects the actual essence of my question (and that the neuronal part seems to be in a black box something good to know)  
> **username_1**: You may want to edit your question yourself, pinpointing our consensus question as the main question. I can do it for you, if you wish - let me know.  
> **username_0**: @Christiaan please go ahead and edit the question in the way of the closest useful/answerable match you can think of (the last comment of yours is pretty much what I want to know)  
> **username_1**: How about now, is this acceptable?  
> **username_0**: @Christiaan very much indeed, thx! So you heard of the focused development as well as it seems, that's interesting. I am looking forward to some nice answers spreading some light...  

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## 0 answers

