Six Months Guided Exercise Therapy Improves Motor Abilities and White Matter Connectivity in Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Background: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) provides the state of putative connectivity from lesioned areas to other brain areas and is potentially beneficial to monitor intervention outcomes. This study assessed the effect of a 6 months guided exercise therapy on motor abilities and white matter diffusivity in the brains of cerebral palsy (CP) children.

Methods: This is a single arm pre-and post-test research design involving 10 spastic CP children, aged 8-18 years and whose Gross Motor Function Classification System Expanded and Revised (GMFCS-E & R) at least Level 21 with the ability to ambulate independently.

Characterisation of the Corticospinal Tract Using Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Unilateral and Bilateral Cerebral Palsy Patients.

Background: Neuroimaging is increasingly used to locate the lesion that causes cerebral palsy (CP) and its extent in the brains of CP patients. Conventional structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not indicate the connectional pattern of white matter; however, with the help of diffusion MRI, fibre tracking of white matter can be done.

Methods: We used diffusion MRI and probabilistic tractography to identify the putative white matter connectivity in the brains of 10 CP patients.