Neuromotor development from kindergarten age to adolescence: developmental course and variability.

The normal course of neuromotor development is described from 5 to 18 years of age. The data have been collected by use of the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment, a standardized testing procedure in which distinct motor tasks are judged with regard to timed performance and movement quality (associated movements of the contralateral and ipsilateral extremity, face, head and body). In the Zurich Growth and Development Studies, norms for these motor tasks have been established in 662 children and adolescents from middle class families. Neuromotor development is not a phenotypic entity, but evolves from motor functions of different complexity. With regard to timed performance and movement quality developmental course, gender differences and laterality vary considerably over age and among motor tasks. Thus, for a reliable assessment of the neuronotor developmental status in children, a standardized test instrument, well-trained examiners and normative data are required.