Aberrant high-gamma oscillations in the somatosensory cortex of children with cerebral palsy: a meg study.
OBJECTIVE
Our study is to investigate somatosensory dysfunction in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM).


METHODS
Six children with spastic CP and six age- and gender-matched typically developing children were studied using a 275-channel MEG system while their left and right index fingers were stimulated in random order. The latency and amplitude of somatosensory evoked magnetic fields were analyzed at sensor level. The patterns of high-gamma oscillations were investigated with SAM at source level.


RESULTS
In comparison to the children with typical development, the latency of the first response of somatosensory evoked magnetic fields (SEFs) in the children with spastic CP was significantly delayed (p<0.05). High-gamma oscillations were identified in the somatosensory cortex in both children with CP and typical developing children. Interestingly, children with spastic CP had significantly higher incidence of ipsilateral activation in the somatosensory cortex following right and left finger stimulation, compared to typically developing children (p=0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that children with spastic CP have a measurable delay of SEFs and high-gamma oscillations. The high rates of ipsilateral cortical activation imply the impairments of functional lateralization in the developing brain. This is the first MEG study to demonstrate abnormal high-gamma oscillations of somatosensory cortices representing the finger in children with spastic CP.
Department of Human Anatomy and Histology-Embryology, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, China.
Xinyao
X
Guo
Jing
J
Xiang
Sheila
S
Mun-Bryce
Marcus
M
Bryce
Samuel
S
Huang
Xiaolin
X
Huo
Yingying
Y
Wang
Douglas
D
Rose
Ton
T
Degrauw
Kristen
K
Gartner
Tianbao
T
Song
Jennifer
J
Schmit
Jilda
J
Vargus-Adams
D000293:Adolescent; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009991:Oscillometry; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*