Translingual Neurostimulation in Late Residual Stage Cerebral Palsy Children Treatment Affects Functional Brain Networks

摘要

Management of cerebral palsy is an actual problem of modern medicine. A new direction of neurorehabilitation, intensively discussed in modern science and practice, includes various types of electrical stimulation. Constant stimulation of the nervous system is one of the most popular ways to activate neural networks to activate the brain and initiate neuroplasticity processes. Participants in the experiment were children with cerebral palsy, spastic diplegia form at the age of 6 to 19 (n = 6) (mean age - 17,9 ± 5,6 years). All subjects underwent standard treatment, including massage, therapeutic gymnastics simulators, robotic mechanotherapy, etc., which lasted 20-25 minutes with neurostimulation of the brain (using a PoNS device). All subjects underwent a resting state functional MRI once before and twice - after neurostimulation course. Results indicate positive dynamics in all subjects: most of them learned walking without aids, obtained decreased muscle tonus and improvement in balance, coordination function were noted. Neurostimulation with the PoNS device combined with curative gymnastics (focused exercises), improves the efficiency of motor functions and the development of motor skills. Resting state functional MRI showed improvement in brain networks. If performed properly, it can be an auxiliary method of objective control of treatment effectiveness.