Children with Cerebral Palsy have Greater Cortical Activity than Typically Developing Children During Gait

2012

Max Kurz
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402-559-9599

The purpose of this experiment was to use functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNRIS) to evaluate differences in the amount of cortical activity present in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and typically developing (TD) children during gait. Children with CP (n= 4; Age = 11 + 4 yrs.) and TD children (n= 9; Age = 13.2 + 3 yrs.) walked on a treadmill while the fNIRS system quantified the amount of deoxygenated and oxygenated hemoglobin in the neural tissues beneath the array, which is closely linked to the amount of neuronal activity. Results show that the amount of activation across the cortical network was higher for the children with CP. Our preliminary results are the first to show that children with CP require a greater amount of cortical activity for controlling their gait. These results infer that walking presents a greater burden on the cortices for children with CP than TD children.

Conference presentations and posters presented

Professionals, Students

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