Corticospinal Excitability in Children with Congenital Hemiparesis

Chao-Ying Chen, Tonya L Rich, Jessica M Cassidy, Bernadette T Gillick, Chao-Ying Chen, Tonya L Rich, Jessica M Cassidy, Bernadette T Gillick

Abstract

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used as an assessment or intervention to evaluate or influence brain activity in children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy (CP) commonly caused by perinatal stroke. This communication report analyzed data from two clinical trials using TMS to assess corticospinal excitability in children and young adults with hemiparetic CP. The results of this communication revealed a higher probability of finding a motor evoked potential (MEP) on the non-lesioned hemisphere compared to the lesioned hemisphere (p = 0.005). The resting motor threshold (RMT) was lower on the non-lesioned hemisphere than the lesioned hemisphere (p = 0.013). There was a significantly negative correlation between age and RMT (rs = -0.65, p = 0.003). This communication provides information regarding MEP responses, motor thresholds (MTs) and the association with age during TMS assessment in children with hemiparetic CP. Such findings contribute to the development of future pediatric studies in neuroplasticity and neuromodulation to influence motor function and recovery after perinatal stroke.

Keywords: cerebral palsy; motor evoked potential; motor threshold; perinatal stroke; transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Boxplot reflecting medians and ranges of RMTs in both the rTMS (lesioned hemisphere) and tDCS (lesioned and non-lesioned hemispheres) studies. RMT: Resting motor threshold; rTMS: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; tDCS: Transcranial direct current stimulation; %MSO: Percentage of maximum of machine output.
Figure 2
Figure 2
RMTs of lesioned (grey dashed lines) and non-lesioned (black solid lines) hemisphere. Individual RMTs of both the lesioned and non-lesioned hemispheres in 10 participants in the tDCS study. A significant correlation between lesioned and non-lesioned sides RMTs was found (rs = −0.64, p = 0.044).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Linear correlation between individual participant’s age and RMT values of the non-lesioned and lesioned hemispheres. (A) Strong negative correlation between RMTs of the non-lesioned hemisphere and age (rs = −0.65, p = 0.003); (B) No correlation between RMTs of the lesioned hemisphere and age (rs = −0.37, p = 0.105).

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