Which part of the brain controls pushing and pulling?

[mannysdoll]

Hello,

My daughter is now 3 1/2 and is is severely hypotonic and developmentally delayed. THe biggest issue right now is the fact that she doesn't push or pull. This is preventing her from transitioning in and out of sitting and crawling. She definitely has desire to do both, but doesn't seem to have any desire in pushing or pulling. She never has. She can grasp toys and her fine motor skills are improving, but when it comes to pushing or pulling for some sort of gross motor function, she shuts down.

I was wondering which part of the brain controls these functions. She does not have brain damage, but had an abnormal MRI. She is not completely diagnosed so I am always looking for clues to help her neurologist diagnose her.

Thanks,
Lisa

[taft]

Hey lisa,

It sounds like she is progressing from the last time I have heard from you :) I think that the frontal lobe would play a big part in that as its responsible for voluntary movement. Good luck I hope you get some more educated answers.

Steph

[mpalmer118]

Hi Lisa,

Welcome, you will find a lot of support and information from everyone here.

Here is a link that Lacy (another mom here) found that shows the various areas of the brain and what is controlled where. http://www.waiting.com/brainfuncthree.html You will have to move around to several different pages to see everything.

I hope it helps, but it often is not that easy. There may be no visible damage to the area in question. (((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))

[lacyndarella]

The cerebellum controls voluntary movement.

Lacy

[lilac7700]

For my girl, it was thought to be sensory related. Afraid to put her hands on the floor. So it kept her form transitioning for the longest time. Even when she did crawl, it took her another several months for her to transition from carpet to linoleum. We brushed her constantly (brushing therapy?)under the direction of o.t.

[jenna]

I am just thinking if it has something to do with weak muscle tone/strength in the shoulders and trunk, that cause her not be able to push or pull.

The reason why I say that is because for over a year, I did hand over hand feeding with a spoon with my son, and he is super motivated by food, so I know he wanted to, but he just couldn't scoop and then bring the spoon to his mouth.
I thought he just didn't have the motor planning to do it.

Then we did intensive suit therapy for 3 weeks, we didn't even work on the arms, it was mostly trunck strengthening, and by the end of the session, he started to eat all by himself with the spoon. I am now convinced that it was the weakness in his shoulders and trunk that prevented him to scoop and bring the spoon up, it wasn't motor planning.