Motor Imagery Training in Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy

NCT03954808 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: AbantIBU-FTR-DK-1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 51
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Motor imagery (MI) is a promising method to improve more cognitive aspects of motor behaviour, and may, thus, be effective for facilitating motor planning in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). MI training facilitates the neural plasticity by enhancing the neuronal cortical pathways in brain. In children with CP, motor planning and MI capacity were found to be affected by studies. In the literature, there are studies about the evaluation of MI in Unilateral CP but there is insufficient number of studies included in MI in the rehabilitation program. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of motor imagery training for gait and lower extremity muscle activity (with EMG), functional capacity, quality of life, and time performance variables in Children with Unilateral CP. The eligible participants will be allocated three groups, including motor imagery training group, traditional physiotherapy control group, and healthy control group. All the assessments will be performed before and after the training in the 8-week motor imagery training group and 6 weeks after the end of training. The participants in the control group will be evaluated with a 8-week interval and 6 weeks after the end of physiotherapy training. The healthy participants will be assessed only once. The motor imagery training will be designed for the individual basis with standard protocols. It will be applied two times a week for 8 weeks. All sessions will be performed in the clinic.

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy

Keywords

Unilateral Cerebral Palsy, Motor imagery,

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Children(MIQ-C)

  Visual and Kinesthetic motor imagery ability will be evaluated with MIQ-C. Includes 12 items in total. The individual is asked to visualize four different movements from three different imagery perspectives. The clearness of the imagination is scored using a Likert-type scale between 1 (very difficult to feel) -7 (very easy to feel)

  Change from Baseline at 8 weeks and 14 weeks

• Mental Chronometry for Timed Up and Go Test

  Motor imagery capacity will be evaluated by mental chronometry. This paradigm compares the duration between the actual movement and the imagined movement similar task duration. In this paradigm, participants are asked to do the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) and then they are asked to imaging the TUG. The timing of the imaging and actual movement will be determined by the stopwatch. Then compare the duration of actual and imagined movements. The temporal accuracy between actual and imagined movement will be calculated in terms of the delta time.

  Change from Baseline at 8 weeks and 14 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (16)

• Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS)

  At Baseline

• Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS)

  Change from Baseline at 8 weeks and 14 weeks

• Conner's Parent Rating Scale-Revised Short form (CPRS-RS)

  At Baseline

• Mini-Mental State Exam For Children (Mmc)

  At Baseline

• Surface electromyography (sEMG)

  Change from Baseline at 8 weeks and 14 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Motor imagery training group

EXPERIMENTAL

Children with Cerebral Palsy. Motor imagery training group will receive a traditional physiotherapy and motor imagery training within a specific program, two days a week for a total of 8 weeks (30 minutes traditional physiotherapy session+15 minutes MI training). The motor imagery training will be designed for the individual basis with standard protocols. All sessions will be performed in the clinic.

Other: Motor Imagery Training

Cerebral Palsy control group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Children with Cerebral Palsy. Traditional physiotherapy control group individuals will be given a traditional physiotherapy two days per week for a total of 8 weeks (traditional physiotherapy session will last 45 minutes).

Other: Traditional physiotherapy

Typically developing control group

NO INTERVENTION

Age matched healthy individuals, with no treatment.

Interventions

Motor Imagery Training OTHER

Motor imagery training will be designed for the individual basis with standard protocols

Motor imagery training group

Traditional physiotherapy OTHER

Traditional physiotherapy within a specific program

Cerebral Palsy control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 18 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy voluntary participation
• Age between 7-18 years, Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy
• With suitable cognitive state for training
• To attend a formal school
• GMFCS Level I-II
• IQ\>70 Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (from children's file)
• Mini-Mental State Exam For Children score above 24

You may not qualify if:

• Severe cognitive impairment and not able to follow task instructions
• IQ\<70 Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (from children's file)
• Who received motor imagery training last 6 months
• Severe Vision and hearing problems
• Botox or surgeries in the last 6 months

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Abant Izzet Baysal University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University

Bolu, 14280, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Steenbergen B, Craje C, Nilsen DM, Gordon AM. Motor imagery training in hemiplegic cerebral palsy: a potentially useful therapeutic tool for rehabilitation. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2009 Sep;51(9):690-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03371.x.

  PMID: 19709140 BACKGROUND

• Steenbergen B, Jongbloed-Pereboom M, Spruijt S, Gordon AM. Impaired motor planning and motor imagery in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy: challenges for the future of pediatric rehabilitation. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2013 Nov;55 Suppl 4:43-6. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.12306.

  PMID: 24237279 BACKGROUND

• Lust JM, Wilson PH, Steenbergen B. Motor imagery difficulties in children with Cerebral Palsy: A specific or general deficit? Res Dev Disabil. 2016 Oct;57:102-11. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2016.06.010. Epub 2016 Jul 9.

  PMID: 27399206 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Brain Damage, Chronic; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases

Study Officials

• Eylem T Yümin

  Abant Izzet Baysal University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD Student

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 16, 2019
• First Posted: May 17, 2019
• Study Start: June 1, 2019
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2020
• Study Completion: July 1, 2020
• Last Updated: October 14, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)