Impairment severity selectively affects the control of proximaland distal components of reaching movements in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy

• This study explored proximal-to-distal components during goal-directed reaching movements in children with mild or moderate hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP); [seven females, fourmales;mean age 8y 6mo; SD 27mo], compared with age-matched, typically developing children (seven females, fivemales; mean age 8y 3mo [SD 25mo]. Severity of HCP was assessed following the approach of Claeys et al. Optoelectronic registrations were made during unimanual reaching-to-grasp and reaching-to-hit movements with both the affected non-preferred and unaffected with HCP, particularly those withmoderate impairment, displayed less optimal spatiotemporal organization of movements performed with the affected arm. Compared with the goal to hit, and increasingly with more severe impairment, children with HCP adapted to the goal to grasp by recruiting augmented shoulder movements when reaching with the affected side. A resulting impact on distal kinematics was found in shorter, straighter, and less segmentedmovement paths. Thus, depending on severity of hemispheric lesions and task complexity, unilateral brain injuries in HCPmay selectively affect neural pathways underlying both proximal and distal arm movement control. Levels of both ipsi- and  ontralateral activation in relation to side and lesion severity should be considered in future studies on prehension movements in HCP.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Psychology

Psykologi

Psychology

psykologi

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