Sensory function and cortical activity in cerebral palsy

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Clinicians have long suspected that individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) have sensory as well as motor deficits. Unfortunately, the literature on sensory deficits in this population inconsistently supports this claim. The proposed study seeks to quantify the somatosensory deficits of patients with CP, and to relate these deficits to activity in the somatosensory cortical regions as measured with functional MRI (fMRI). We have assembled a battery of tests to quantify discriminative touch, vibratory sense, joint proprioception, and stereognosis. We will test these sensory modalities in 20 individuals with diplegia, 20 with hemiplegia, and 20 controls. Detailed analyses of somatosensory cortical activity recorded with a 3T MR scanner will enable correlations between somatosensory cortical activity and somatosensory deficits. Our hypothesis is that sensory deficits are far more prevalent in this population than previously suspected, and that these can be related to abnormal cortical activity. A secondary goal is to relate these aspects to functional motor performance in individuals with CP. [unreadable] [unreadable]