AUTHOR=Daly Ian , Faller Josef , Scherer Reinhold , Sweeney-Reed Catherine M. , Nasuto Slawomir J. , Billinger Martin , Müller-Putz Gernot R. TITLE=Exploration of the neural correlates of cerebral palsy for sensorimotor BCI control JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroengineering VOLUME=7 YEAR=2014 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroengineering/articles/10.3389/fneng.2014.00020 DOI=10.3389/fneng.2014.00020 ISSN=1662-6443 ABSTRACT=

Cerebral palsy (CP) includes a broad range of disorders, which can result in impairment of posture and movement control. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as assistive devices for individuals with CP. Better understanding of the neural processing underlying motor control in affected individuals could lead to more targeted BCI rehabilitation and treatment options. We have explored well-known neural correlates of movement, including event-related desynchronization (ERD), phase synchrony, and a recently-introduced measure of phase dynamics, in participants with CP and healthy control participants. Although present, significantly less ERD and phase locking were found in the group with CP. Additionally, inter-group differences in phase dynamics were also significant. Taken together these findings suggest that users with CP exhibit lower levels of motor cortex activation during motor imagery, as reflected in lower levels of ongoing mu suppression and less functional connectivity. These differences indicate that development of BCIs for individuals with CP may pose additional challenges beyond those faced in providing BCIs to healthy individuals.