Exploring the origins of developmental disorders.

disorders that may dramatically affect cognitive and social competence (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, dyslexia, autism, attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder, Parkinson’s disease) are mainly attributable to neurochemical imbalances, such as aberrant dopaminergic activity.5 This imbalance may well explain various symptoms of DCD, such as difficulties in handwriting, language, motor planning, and spatial organization. Concurrently, symptoms of children with DCD closely resemble those of patients with lesions of the posterior parietal cortex, patients with attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder, or Parkinson’s disease.1 Pathophysiological similarities of DCD with developmental disorders are also apparent in shared risk-factors, i.e. low birthweight and exposure to specific pharmacological agents and/or toxins during pregnancy and lactation. This may also provide an explanation for the increased prevalence of left-handedness in children with DCD,2 as the developmental ‘fault’ causing the shift to the right hemisphere is most likely to be of chemical origin.3 Yet, no study to date has directly examined the effect of specific neurochemical agents in relation to DCD. More research on DCD in the future should focus on the neurochemical level and investigate for possible biophysical causative agents.