The first independent step of a child may be small, but it represents a giant leap for its development. This project addresses the interplay between brain and muscular activity underlying the emergence of independent walking.
The coordinated muscle activation of stepping in neonates can be described by two basic activation patterns that are retained throughout development, and later supplemented by two new patterns that only become manifest in toddlers.
- A combined analysis of kinemetics and muscular activity in healthy children helps to unravel processes underlying the emergence of basic patterns.
- Number and type of motor activation patterns are seminal characteristics that are expected to develop differently in children with cerebral palsy.
- We apply our results to the identification of optimal rehabilitation techniques for children with cerebral palsy.
Analysis methode
We characterize the emergence of walking in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and study differences in terms of number, type, and development of locomotor primitives. We expect to see the same two basic patterns in CP infants as observed in healthy ones, but the number and/or type of basic patterns, and the development of the new (if any) muscle synergies when the CP child starts to walk, will be different.
Launch date: Oct, 2015
Duration: 5 Years
Funding: NWO – Vidi
