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Fingertip forces during object manipulation in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. I: anticipatory scaling
1Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. ag275@columbia.edu
Insights
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) can learn to adjust grip force using object weight and texture. However, they need more practice than typically developing children to achieve this anticipatory control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Motor Control
Background:
- Children with cerebral palsy (CP) exhibit varied motor control deficits.
- Previous research suggests a dichotomy in anticipatory force control based on sensory input (tactile vs. proprioceptive).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate anticipatory force scaling in children with hemiplegic CP.
- To determine if children with hemiplegia can utilize both weight and texture information for force scaling.
- To compare learning rates of anticipatory control between children with and without CP.
Main Methods:
- 15 children with hemiplegic CP (8-14 years) and age-matched controls participated.
- Participants lifted objects with varied weights and textures.
- The ability to scale fingertip force output in advance was assessed.
Main Results:
- Children with hemiplegia demonstrated the capacity for anticipatory force control using both weight and texture.
- Compared to controls, children with hemiplegia required significantly more trials to develop anticipatory control.
- This suggests a potential deficit in forming internal representations of object properties.
Conclusions:
- Children with hemiplegia can develop anticipatory grip force control but with a delayed learning curve.
- Disturbed sensory mechanisms may lead to indistinct internal object representations, impacting motor planning.
- Findings have implications for targeted therapeutic interventions to improve sensory processing and motor skills in CP.
Abstract:
Previous studies of grasping and object manipulation in children with cerebral palsy (CP) have suggested a dichotomy in the ability to use anticipatory control (planning) of the fingertip force output, depending on the type of sensory information (tactile or proprioceptive) on which it is based. The present study further explores this issue by testing the ability of 15 children with hemiplegic CP aged between 8 and 14 years to scale the fingertip force output in advance during the lifting of small objects whose weight and surface texture are varied. The results indicate that children with hemiplegia can use anticipatory control based on both the weight and texture of the object, but require a greater number of trials than age-matched children without CP (control children) before they can do so. We suggest that the initial lack of anticipatory control results from an indistinct internal representation of the object's physical properties due to disturbed sensory mechanisms, which may have direct implications for therapeutic intervention.