Abstract
Cerebral palsy (CP) includes a broad range of disorders, which can result in impairment of posture and movement control. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as assistive devices for individuals with CP. Better understanding of the neural processing underlying motor control in affected individuals could lead to more targeted BCI rehabilitation and treatment options. We have explored well-known neural correlates of movement, including event-related desynchronization (ERD), phase synchrony, and a recently-introduced measure of phase dynamics, in participants with CP and healthy control participants. Although present, significantly less ERD and phase locking were found in the group with CP. Additionally, inter-group differences in phase dynamics were also significant. Taken together these findings suggest that users with CP exhibit lower levels of motor cortex activation during motor imagery, as reflected in lower levels of ongoing mu suppression and less functional connectivity. These differences indicate that development of BCIs for individuals with CP may pose additional challenges beyond those faced in providing BCIs to healthy individuals.
Highlights
Cerebral palsy (CP) can be a very debilitating life-long condition affecting activities of normal living
We have explored well-known neural correlates of movement, including event-related desynchronization (ERD), phase synchrony, and a recently-introduced measure of phase dynamics, in participants with CP and healthy control participants
Significant differences were observed in phase dynamics between participant groups, with healthy participants exhibiting greater levels of inter-channel phase differences than participants with CP
Summary
Cerebral palsy (CP) can be a very debilitating life-long condition affecting activities of normal living. We explored a novel approach to the use of a brain-computer interface (BCI) to assist individuals with CP experiencing motor impairment. Given the difficulties people with CP have in using standard BCIs, we investigated alternative neural correlates of movement, which may allow better BCI control by this group. CP describes a group of brain and nervous system disorders that can involve movement, learning, visual, and auditory perception, and cognitive processing (Miller, 2005). CP is caused by brain injury occurring pre- or peri-natally, or in the first 2 years of infancy (Holm, 1982; Odding et al, 2006). It may be induced by hypoxia to a particular brain area, or result from intracerebral hemorrhage, infection, head injury, or jaundice (Perlman, 1997)
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