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The impact of brain lesion characteristics and the corticospinal tract wiring on mirror movements in unilateral cerebral palsy
Simon-Martinez, Cristina Decraene, Lisa Zielinski, Ingar Brian Hoare Williams, Jacqueline Mailleux, Lisa Steenbergen, Bert Ortibus, Els Feys, Hilde Klingels, Katrijn
Simon-Martinez, Cristina
Decraene, Lisa
Zielinski, Ingar
Brian Hoare
Williams, Jacqueline
Mailleux, Lisa
Steenbergen, Bert
Ortibus, Els
Feys, Hilde
Klingels, Katrijn
Abstract
Mirror movements (MM) influence bimanual performance in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Whilst MM are related to brain lesion characteristics and the corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern, the combined impact of these neurological factors remains unknown. Forty-nine children with uCP (mean age 10y6mo) performed a repetitive squeezing task to quantify similarity (MM-similarity) and strength (MM-intensity) of the MM activity. We used MRI data to evaluate lesion type (periventricular white matter, N = 30; cortico-subcortical, N = 19), extent of ipsilesional damage, presence of bilateral lesions, and damage to basal ganglia, thalamus and corpus callosum. The CST wiring was assessed with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (17 CSTcontralateral, 16 CSTipsilateral, 16 CSTbilateral). Data was analyzed with regression analyses. In the more-affected hand, MM-similarity and intensity were higher with CSTbilateral/ipsilateral. In the less-affected hand, MM-similarity was higher in children with (1) CSTcontra with CSC lesions, (2) CSTbilat/ipsi with PVL lesions and (3) CSTbilat/ipsi with unilateralized lesions. MM-intensity was higher with larger damage to the corpus callosum and unilateral lesions. A complex combination of neurological factors influences MM characteristics, and the mechanisms differ between hands.
Keywords
Date
2022
Type
Journal article
Journal
Scientific Reports
Book
Volume
12
Issue
Page Range
1-12
Article Number
Article 16301
ACU Department
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open