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Project

Biomechanical and neurological determinants of impaired trunk control in children with cerebral palsy.

The previous doctoral project provided an innovative contribution to the research on impaired trunk control in children with cerebral palsy (CP) through the development of new methodologies (clinical and biomechanical) for trunk control assessment and the identification of distinct trunk deficits within subgroups by use of these methodologies. The current project aims to further investigate the biomechanical and neurological determinants of impaired trunk control to advance our understanding of trunk deficits in these children and to provide a sound base for well-targeted treatment planning to improve a childs trunk control. Firstly, an in-depth study of parameters of impaired trunk control during the various phases of the gait cycle and during high demand motor tasks (e.g. unipedal stance) will provide more insights into the relation between impaired trunk control and lower limb pathology. The current kinematic analysis will be supplemented with the assessment of trunk kinetics and trunk muscle activation patterns. Secondly, the relation between brain lesion characteristics (timing, location and extent of the lesion) using medical imaging techniques and clinical and objective assessments of impaired trunk control will be investigated to study the role of neural correlates in relation to trunk function in this patient group. Thirdly, the effect of a lower limb and/or trunk intervention program on trunk deficits will be examined and may serve as a proof-of-concept for future trunk intervention studies.
Date:1 Oct 2013 →  28 Feb 2015
Keywords:Assessment, Cerebral palsy, Trunk intervention, Trunk control
Disciplines:Orthopaedics, Human movement and sports sciences, Rehabilitation sciences