Sex- and Experience-Related Differences in Bimanual Coordination Development

Sex- and experience-related differences in bimanual coordination have been found previously but are often reported separately. Here, we characterize visuomotor skill performance in relation to age, sex, and athletic experience in order to indirectly gain insight into the neural processes that underlie this advanced level of eye-hand coordination. We use a novel precision bimanual task composed of a modified washer-peg board. We recruited three age and two experience groups (9-10, 11-12 and 13-15, elite versus house league). We also developed a Whole-hand bimanual task in order to account for any manual dexterity discrepancies. The results show that the effect of skill and sex are not seen until later years developmentally, at that point there is a strong effect of sex on bimanual coordination. Future research that aims to look at the development of motor skills and control should also look at sex and experience effects.