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Fingertip forces during object manipulation in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. II: bilateral coordination
A M Gordon1, J Charles, S V Duff
1Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Insights
Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) show subtle grip-lift deficits in their affected hand. However, sensory input from their unaffected hand can improve anticipatory force control in the involved hand, suggesting sensory processing issues.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Motor Control
Background:
- Hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) often affects motor function, particularly in the involved upper limb.
- Understanding sensorimotor integration is crucial for rehabilitation strategies in children with CP.
- Anticipatory force control is vital for dexterous object manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate fingertip force coordination during object manipulation in children with hemiplegic CP.
- To assess anticipatory force control in both involved and non-involved hands.
- To determine if anticipatory control can be generalized across hands in this population.
Main Methods:
- Examined grip-lift movements and fingertip force sequencing in 14 children (8-14 years) with hemiplegic CP.
- Assessed force scaling based on object weight in both hands.
- Tested cross-hand transfer of sensory information for anticipatory force control.
Main Results:
- No significant impairment was found in the non-involved hand's grip-lift sequencing.
- Subtle deficits in grip-lift sequencing were observed in the involved hand.
- Children demonstrated anticipatory force scaling in the non-involved hand.
- Sensory input from the non-involved hand facilitated anticipatory force scaling in the involved hand.
Conclusions:
- The involved hand in hemiplegic CP exhibits subtle deficits in grip-lift sequencing.
- Anticipatory force control can be influenced by sensory input from the contralateral, non-involved hand.
- Disturbed sensory input likely underlies the impaired anticipatory control in the involved hand of children with hemiplegic CP.
Abstract:
The present study examines the coordination of fingertip forces during object manipulation in both the involved and non-involved hand of 14 children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) aged between 8 and 14 years. While no impairment could be observed in the non-involved hand, subtle deficits in the sequencing of the grip-lift movement were observed in all children tested in this hand. However, they were able to scale the fingertip force output of the non-involved hand in advance (use anticipatory control) based on the object's weight. In the second experiment in this paper, we tested whether the anticipatory control can be generalized across hands. The results indicate that sensory information from the non-involved hand can be used for anticipatory scaling of isometric force increase during subsequent lifts with the contralateral involved hand. These findings suggest that the initial lack of anticipatory control usually observed in the involved hand of children with hemiplegic CP is likely to be based on disturbed sensory input.