Action planning in typically and atypically developing children (unilateral cerebral palsy)

Motor imagery ability in children with congenital hemiplegia: Effect of lesion side and functional level

“…Although the motor execution difficulties of children with hemiplegia have long been recognized, deficits in movement planning abilities are a more recent discovery. In a series of studies that required participants to either grasp or pick up an object and perform some form of rotation, Steenbergen and colleagues have demonstrated that adolescents and children with hemiplegia do not plan their movements in the same way as typically developing peers (Crajé, Aarts, et al, 2010;Mutsaarts, et al, 2005Mutsaarts, et al, , 2006Steenbergen, Meulenbroek, & Rosenbaum, 2004). It has generally been found that, when a simple movement was required, the grasping pattern of children with hemiplegia matched their peers.…”

Motor planning in children with cerebral palsy: A longitudinal perspective

“…These compromised motor planning abilities were repeatedly shown in children of different ages and adults with CP (Chen & Yang, 2007;Steenbergen et al, 2013). The consistency of this finding over different age groups suggests a disorder or a delay in the development of motor planning ability in children with CP compared to their typically developing peers (Craje, Aarts, Nijhuis-van der Sanden, & Steenbergen, 2010;Janssen & Steenbergen, 2011). However, the validity of such a conclusion from cross-sectional age-group data alone is debatable (Robinson, Schmidt, & Teti, 2005).…”

“…In children with CP only small-scale cross-sectional studies have been conducted, with a varying age span. Craje et al (2010) reported that children with CP aged 3-6 years did not differ with regard to the degree to which they showed motor planning. This finding was extended to the ages of 7-12 years in the study of Janssen and Steenbergen (2011).…”

“…Collectively, these studies indicated no age-related differences on motor planning ability in CP, unlike typically developing children. However, the results of Craje et al (2010) suggest that motor planning in CP may be amenable to training.…”

Motor Imagery of the Unaffected Hand in Children With Spastic Hemiplegia

“…This proposition was based on several lines of evidence including the positive effects of motor imagery training in post-stroke rehabilitation (see Sharma, Pomeroy, & Baron, 2006 for a review), observations that individuals with hemiplegia display poor motor planning ability when performing prehension tasks (Crajé, Aarts, Nijhuis-van der Sanden, & Steenbergen, 2010;Mutsaarts, Steenbergen, & Bekkering, 2006;Steenbergen, Meulenbroek, & Rosenbaum, 2004) and possible motor imagery deficits in individuals with congenital hemiplegia (Crajé, van Elk et al, 2010;Mutsaarts, Steenbergen, & Bekkering, 2007;Steenbergen, van Nimwegen, & Crajé, 2007;Williams et al, in press). Studies examining the motor imagery ability of hemiplegic individuals, however, have been inconclusive and studies with children with hemiplegia are lacking.…”