Article

Motor imagery refers to the mental simulation of a motor action without
producing an overt movement. Implicit motor imagery can be regarded as a
first-person kinesthetic perceptual judgement, and addresses the capacity to
engage into the manipulation of one's body schema. In this study, we examined
whether children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) are able to engage in
implicit motor imagery. METHOD: A modified version of the hand laterality
judgment task was employed. Erroneous responses, reaction times, and
event-related potentials from the electroencephalograph were analysed. RESULTS:
In 13 children with typical development (mean age 10y 7mo, SD 1y 2mo; seven male,
six female), we observed the classic rotation direction effect. Specifically,
when comparing outward rotated with inward rotated hand pictures, decreased
accuracy and increased response times were observed. Event-related potentials
analyses of the electroencephalogram revealed a more marked N1 and an enhanced
rotation-related negativity. INTERPRETATION: These findings suggest that an
implicit motor imagery strategy was used to solve the task. However, in 10
children with unilateral CP (mean age 10y 7mo, SD 2y 5mo; five male, five
female), these effects were observed only when the less-affected hand was
involved. This observation suggests that children with CP could benefit from
visual training strategies.
CI - (c) 2015 Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS