Feasibility of event-related potential methodology to evaluate changes in cortical processing after rehabilitation in children with cerebral palsy: A pilot study

Abstract

This study examined the feasibility of using event-related potentials (ERPs) to measure changes in cortical processing following an established rehabilitative intervention (constraint-induced movement therapy, CIMT) for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Sixteen participants with a diagnosis of hemiparetic CP, with a median age of 6 years, were assessed pre and immediately post CIMT and at 6-month follow-up, using a picture–word match/mismatch discrimination task and standard neurobehavioral measures. Intervention effects were evident in improved performance on behavioral tests of sensory and motor function and the increased mean ERP amplitude of the N400 match/mismatch response on the side ipsilateral to the lesion. These effects were maintained 6 months after the intervention. No such changes were observed on the side contralateral to the lesion. This research suggests that ERPs can measure rehabilitation-induced changes in neural function in children with CP.

Keywords:

• Cerebral palsy
• Rehabilitation
• Event-related potentials
• Pediatric
• Constraint therapy

The project was supported by the National Center for Research Resources [grant number UL1 RR024975-01], now at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [grant number 2 UL1 TR000445-06]; the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [grant number P30HD15052 to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center].