New Perspectives in the Rehabilitation of Children With Motor Disorders : the Role of the Mirror Neuron System

Rehabilitation Strategies in Children With Neuro-motor Disorders Due to the Impairment of the Central Nervous System or the Peripheral Nervous System

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01016496

Enrollment

Registered

2009-11-19

Start date

2009-09-30

Completion date

2010-11-30

Last updated

2014-06-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy, Hemiplegia

Keywords

Cerebral Palsy, Mirror neurons, hemiplegia, action observation therapy, children affected by hemiplegia as a consequence of Cerebral Palsy

Brief summary

Evidence exists that the activation of actions activates the same cortical motor areas that are involved in the performance of the observed actions. The neural substrate for this phenomena is the mirror neuron system. It is generally assumed that mirror neurons have a basic role in understanding the intentions of others and in imitation learning. There is evidence that action observation has a positive effect on rehabilitation of motor disorders after stroke. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that action observation followed by the repetition of the actions previously observed has a positive impact on rehabilitation of the upper limb in children affected by hemiplegia as a consequence of Cerebral Palsy. In particular, the purpose is to assess if mirror neurons could improve the amount, the quality and the velocity of movements and the cooperation between the two upper extremities.

Interventions

OTHERaction observation therapy

15 consecutive sessions of 18 minutes, plus repetition

OTHERrepetition of gestures

15 consecutive session of visual games, plus repetition of gestures

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Caregiver, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

6 Years to 12 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* children with hemiplegia and * Melbourne assessment \> 50 points

Exclusion criteria

* inability to collaborate * pharmacoresistant epilepsy * inability to imitate gestures * sensitivity disorders

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Melbourne Assessment of unilateral limb function	T0=baseline, Tend (week three) , T2(two months) T6months (six months after the completion of the training)

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Assisting Hand Assessment	T0, Tend, T2, T6
Jebsen-Taylor	T0, Tend, T2, T6
Abilhand emikids	T0, Tend, T2, T6

Countries

Italy

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 28, 2026