EEG Sensorimotor Rhythms Dynamics in Children with Cerebral Palsy during the Course of Neurorehabilitation, Depending in the Success of Their Imagination of Movements

Abstract

An analysis of changes in sensorimotor rhythms of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and features of the restoration of motor functions during a course of neurorehabilitation using a non-invasive brain-computer-hand exoskeleton interface was carried out in 50 children aged 7–15 years of both sexes suffering from cerebral palsy (CP). EEG was recorded in 32 leads under conditions of rest and kinesthetic imagination of hand extension movements. Depending on the success of the classifier program in determining imaginary states based on the EEG pattern, the children were divided into two groups—with high and low success when imagining movements. In children of the studied groups, when undergoing a course of neurorehabilitation, differences were revealed in the nature of changes in EEG amplitude in the sensorimotor mu (8–13 Hz) and beta (15–25 Hz) rhythms frequency ranges. When imagining movements of the right hand, intergroup differences for the mu rhythm reached the level of statistical significance in the medial electrodes of the fronto-central and parietal areas of the neocortex, for the beta rhythm—in the medial lead of the parietal region. Children in the group with high success showed a decrease or slight increase in the amplitude of the mu- and beta rhythm in these brain areas at the last session of the course compared to the first. We hypothesize that children in this group are not only better able to kinesthetically imagine movements throughout the course of neurorehabilitation, but also, based on feedback signals, learn to effectively adjust their strategies for movement imagination. Children in the group with low success showed an increase in the amplitude of sensorimotor rhythms in these brain areas, indicating the development of inhibition in the frontoparietal motor network. Patients, whose conditions were determined more accurately by the classifier, achieved higher rates of motor rehabilitation. The results of the study are important for clarifying the brain mechanisms of motor functions restoration in patients with cerebral palsy under the influence of a course of neurorehabilitation.