Event Date:
Thursday, May 21, 2020 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm
"Optimizing Motor Recovery in People with Cerebral Palsy"
Kathleen Friel, PhD, Associate Professor, Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine; Director, Clinical Laboratory for Early Brain Injury Recovery, Burke Neurological Institute
Despite the fact that cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common pediatric neuromotor disability, there are few effective therapies. Even the most promising therapies only improve a child’s hand and arm function a modest amount. Alarmingly, many of these therapies have been developed without an understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of a child’s impairments. In this seminar, I will discuss studies we have done to fill gaps in understanding the neurobiology of CP, and how we have leveraged this to design and test new therapies for children and adults with CP. Our therapies utilize non-invasive brain stimulation, intensive hand skill training, and robotic upper limb training. Since CP is a heterogenous disability, we also aim to determine which therapies work best for which people. 5. Three citations: Smorenburg AR, Gordon AM, Kuo HC, Ferre CL, Brandao M, Bleyenheuft Y, Carmel JB, Friel KM. (2016). Does Corticospinal Tract Connectivity Influence the Response to Intensive Bimanual Therapy in Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy?. Neurorehabil Neural Repair, 31(3):250-260. Gupta D., Barachant A., Gordon A.M., Kuo A.C., Ferre C.L., Carmel J.B., Friel K.M. (2017). Effect of sensory and motor connectivity on hand function in pediatric hemiplegia. Annals of Neurology, 82(5):766-780. Ferre CL, Carmel JB, Flamand VH, Gordon AM, Friel KM. (2020). Anatomical and Functional Characterization in Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: An Atlas-Based Analysis. Neurorehabil Neural Repair, 34(2):148-158.