PP06.11 – 2980: EEG modulation during grasping movements of both hands in children affected by hemiplegic cerebral palsy

Objectives To investigate cerebral correlates of action execution with affected and non-affected hand in children with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy (CP). Methods We acquired electroencephalographic signal (EEG) of 9 CP children (5 F, 4 M, mean age 8Y, SD 2Y) and of 10 control healthy children (CC) (4 F, 6 M, mean age 10 Y, SD 2Y). For comparison with healthy subjects, we considered CP affected hand as non-dominant and the unaffected hand as dominant. All subjects performed a reaching and grasping movement with both hands. As a neurophysiological measure we considered event related desynchronization (ERD) in the mu frequency band (8–13 Hz) which is a neural correlate of motor processes (Pfurtscheller 1997). For all considered measures, we evaluated the GROUP and MOVED HAND effects using post hoc ANOVA. Results Both groups showed a clear mu desynchronization to action execution of both hands. A stronger mu ERD, in both dominant and not-dominant hand, was found in healthy controls compared to CP. Conclusions The motor cortex contralateral to unaffected hand showed a reduced mu ERD, confirming that even in hemiplegic CP children, cortical damage extends to both hemispheres and can be inferred by mu ERD. Moreover, clinical and functional scores, and mu desynchronization are jointly and coherently affected by CP.