Publicaties

Only cross-sectional studies have demonstrated muscle deficits in children with spastic cerebral palsy (SCP). The impact of gross motor functional limitations on altered muscle growth remains unclear. This prospective longitudinal study modelled morphological muscle growth in 87 children with SCP (age range 6 months to 11 years, Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] level I/II/III = 47/22/18). Ultrasound assessments were performed ...

BACKGROUND: Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a heterogeneous brain-based visual processing disorder in which basic visual orienting functions (VOF) and higher-order perception can be impaired. AIMS: To evaluate (1) the test-retest reliability and variability of an eye tracking-based VOF paradigm, and related clinical characteristics, and (2) the relations between VOF (variability) and daily visual functioning and visuoperceptual dimensions. ...

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a heterogeneous group of genetic neurodegenerative disorders, characterized by progressive lower limb spasticity and weakness resulting from retrograde axonal degeneration of motor neurons (MNs). Here, we generated in vitro human neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) from five HSP patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines, by means of microfluidic strategy, to model disease-relevant ...

Mirror movements (MM) influence bimanual performance in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Whilst MM are related to brain lesion characteristics and the corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern, the combined impact of these neurological factors remains unknown. Forty-nine children with uCP (mean age 10y6mo) performed a repetitive squeezing task to quantify similarity (MM-similarity) and strength (MM-intensity) of the MM activity. We ...

Impaired hand proprioception can lead to difficulties in performing fine motor tasks, thereby affecting activities of daily living. The majority of children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP) experience proprioceptive deficits, but accurately quantifying these deficits is challenging due to the lack of sensitive measurement methods. Robot-assisted assessments provide a promising alternative, however, there is a need for solutions that ...

We have an internal representation of the world that guides our behavior, helps us predicting what comes next and therefore, reducing uncertainty. For instance, after hearing the noise of a door opening, we usually expect to see a person appearing, whose features differ depending on the context. In this example of associative learning, predictions need to be adjusted if there is a change in the environment (e.g. different person depending on the ...

How we perceptually organize a visual stimulus depends not only on the stimulus itself, but also on the temporal and spatial context in which the stimulus is presented and on the individual processing the stimulus and context. Earlier research found both attractive and repulsive context effects in perception: tendencies to organize visual input similarly to preceding context stimuli (i.e., hysteresis, attraction) co-exist with tendencies that ...

Visual deficits are core deficits of schizophrenia. Classically, deficits are determined with demanding psychophysical tasks requiring fine-grained spatial or temporal resolution. Less is known about holistic processing. Here, we employed the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT) measuring classic aspects of Gestalt processing. A target shape is embedded in a context and observers have to detect as quickly as possible in which display the target ...

An eye-tracking and questionnaire study was set up in collaboration with the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) to investigate the perception and appreciation of three Frank Stella paintings from the 60s (Tuxedo Park Junction and Effingham I from the collection of the museum and a hand-painted replica of Hiraqla Variation II). Effingham and Hiraqla were shown next to a printed copy without fluorescent colors, for a direct comparison ...