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Brain activity during watching and doing hand movements in children with unilateral cerebral palsy

Compares brain signals during watching and doing actions in children with unilateral cerebral palsy.

Key facts

Who runs it
IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris
Where
Italy1 site in 1 countryChoose a country to see its sites
Trial code
Registry title
Neural Correlates of Goal-directed Action Observation and Execution in Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy
Status
Not yet recruiting
People taking part
80 people, planned
Started
Jan 2026
Expected to end
Jul 2027
Type of study
Observational, 2 groups
Record updated
27 January 2026

Who can take part

AI summary

From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.

The trial is looking for children aged 5 to 15 with unilateral cerebral palsy (movement problems mainly on one side of the body). It is also looking for typically developing children of similar age as a comparison group.

Age
5 to 15 years
Sex
All sexes
Disease stage
Children with cerebral palsy: confirmed unilateral cerebral palsy, with hand use levels I to III on the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS). Comparison children: typical development and no documented clinically relevant disorders.
Earlier treatment
Children with cerebral palsy cannot join if they had arm or hand surgery in the 12 months before the study, or botulinum toxin injection in the 6 months before.

Main reasons for not taking part

  • Severe arm or hand impairment (MACS level IV or higher, unable to grasp)
  • Arm or hand surgery within 12 months, or botulinum toxin injection within 6 months, before the study
  • Severe other illnesses
  • Severe cognitive disability, assessed with the WPPSI-IV, WISC-IV or WISC-V scales

The registry criteria, word for word

Show all 10 criteriaShow less

Who can take part

  • Children with confirmed diagnosis of Unilateral Cerebral Palsy,
  • Manual ability levels from I to III in the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS)
  • Children's age from 5 to 15 years old
  • 5 to 15 year-old children with typical development,
  • No documented clinically relevant disorders

Who cannot take part

  • UpL surgery within 12 months prior to study entry and botulinum toxin injection within 6 months prior to study entry,
  • Severe Upper Limb (UpL) impairment (MACS ≥ level IV: inability to grasp),
  • Severe comobordities,
  • Severe cognitive disability, clinically assessed by the cognitive scales Wechsler, Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) or Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV or V); Typically Developing children:

Other criteria

  • Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy

Check if you might fit

Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.

  • Are you between 5 and 15 years old?

This trial has no sites in United States.

It has sites in one country. Choose a country to see its sites.

About the trial

What the trial wants to find out

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common childhood-onset motor disorder, with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (UCP)- motor impairment predominantly impacting one side of the body-representing the most frequent form of CP. Among available rehabilitation programs, Action Observation Treatment (AOT) has gained increasing attention for its demonstrated effectiveness in improving manual motor function. AOT involves the systematic observation of goal-directed actions followed by their execution/imitation and is thought to leverage the mirror mechanism and its role in motor learning. Specifically, it relies on the neurophysiological principle that observing others' actions activates the same neural structures involved in executing those actions, reflecting the engagement of the mirror neuron system (MNS). In children with CP, the feasibility and effectiveness of AOT have been shown functionally (Sgandurra et al., 2013, Buchignani et al., 2019). However, despite its theoretical grounding in MNS functioning, the neurophysiological correlates of this system in children with CP remain less characterized, with only limited investigations using functional neuroimaging (e.g., Sgandurra et al., 2020) or neurophysiological methods such as electroencephalography (EEG; e.g., Demas et al., 2019).

Read full original descriptionShow less

This observational study aims to characterize the neurophysiological signatures of action execution and action observation in children aged 5-15 years with a diagnosis of UCP compared to a group of age-matched typically developing (TD) peers. To this end, non-invasive high-density EEG (hdEEG) will be used to quantify sensorimotor cortex modulation through mu-rhythm reactivity-specifically event-related desynchronization (ERD) and synchronization (ERS)-and its topographical distribution during an active visuo-motor task involving upper limbs. Mu-rhythm desynchronization (or suppression) over sensorimotor regions is a well-established marker of MNS engagement. A secondary objective is to examine the relationship between EEG measures and participants' attention, upper-limb kinematics, and manual motor function. To this purpose, participants will wear non-invasive wearable sensors to capture arm/hand kinematics, and attention will be monitored with a non-invasive eye-tracking system. Validated scales will be used to assess manual motor function.

Participants will take part in one single visit of about 1.5 hours. During the EEG acquisition session, children will wear a 128-channel EEG net and complete an active visuo-motor paradigm including the observation and execution of unimanual and bimanual goal-directed actions (e.g., reaching-grasping). In the observation condition, children will watch videos depicting these actions on a computer screen while refraining from movement. In the subsequent execution condition, they will interact themselves with the same objects as in the observation condition. Throughout the same session, children's attention/gaze will be tracked via eye-tracking, and upper-limb kinematics will be recorded using wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors. Before or after EEG acquisition, manual motor function will be assessed using two standardized scales: the Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) and the Melbourne Assessment-2 (MA-2).

Data analysis will characterize the mu rhythm ERD topography and temporal dynamics during both action execution and action observation, within and between groups. Correlation analyses will explore associations between neurophysiological measures, gaze and attentional patterns, kinematic data, and motor assessments scores to elucidate how motor and attentional factors modulate sensorimotor cortical activation.

The 2 groups in the trial

  • Study Group

    40 children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (UCP), aged 5-15 years

  • Control Group

    40 typically developing (TD) children, aged 5-15 years

Questions to ask the study team

  1. How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
  2. Are travel costs paid?
  3. Can I keep my own doctor?
  4. What happens if I want to stop?

Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations

Print a page for my doctor

Data and sources

Registry record
Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Official title
Neurophysiological, Kinematics and Functional Correlates of Goal-directed Action Observation and Execution in Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy
Plain-language title
Brain activity during watching and doing hand movements in children with unilateral cerebral palsyGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
Fit questions
Built from NCT07369167, who can take part
Record updated
27 January 2026