Cristina Simon-Martinez

Swiss National Science Foundation · Long term research

All data is available at https://zenodo.org/records/8363126 Decades of research into hand-object interaction and manipulation skills has yielded fundamental insights with applications in robotics and motor learning. Nevertheless, integrating visual function (especially binocular function, important to perceive depth) into this equation is crucial,...

Human activity recognition and clinical biomechanics are challenging problems in physical telerehabilitation medicine. However, most publicly available datasets on human body movements cannot be used to study both problems in an out-of-the-lab movement acquisition setting. The objective of the VIDIMU dataset is to pave the way towards affordable pa...

Background Amblyopia is the most common developmental vision disorder in children. The initial treatment consists of refractive correction. When insufficient, occlusion therapy may further improve visual acuity. However, the challenges and compliance issues associated with occlusion therapy may result in treatment failure and residual amblyopia. Vi...

Human activity recognition and clinical biomechanics are challenging problems in physical telerehabilitation medicine. However, most publicly available datasets on human body movements cannot be used to study both problems in an out-of-the-lab movement acquisition setting. The objective of the VIDIMU dataset is to pave the way towards affordable pa...

We explored structural brain connectomes in children with spastic unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP) and its relation to sensory-motor function using graph theory. In 46 children with uCP (mean age = 10 years 7 months ± 2 years 9 months; Manual Ability Classification System I = 15, II = 16, III = 15) we assessed upper limb somatosensory and motor func...

Background Amblyopia is the most common developmental vision disorder in children. The initial treatment consists of refractive correction. When insufficient, occlusion therapy may further improve visual acuity. However, the challenges and compliance issues associated with occlusion therapy may result in treatment failure and residual amblyopia. Vi...

Mirror movements (MM) influence bimanual performance in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Whilst MM are related to brain lesion characteristics and the corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern, the combined impact of these neurological factors remains unknown. Forty-nine children with uCP (mean age 10y6mo) performed a repetitive squeez...

B ackground and objectives Brain damage during early development impacts the brain structural network and its coinciding functions. Here, we explored structural brain connectomes in children with unilateral cerebral palsy and its relation to sensory-motor function using a novel semi-automated graph theory analysis, investigating both hemispheres....

Background. Mirror movements (MM) influence bimanual performance in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Whilst MM are related to brain lesion characteristics and the corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern, the combined impact of these neurological factors remains unknown. Methods. Forty-nine children with uCP (mean age 10y6mo) performe...

Fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging is commonly thought of as a development of modern times (last two decades). Yet, this field mobilized shortly after the discovery and implementation of MRI technology. Here, we provide a review of the parallel advancements in the fields of fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging, noting the shifts from clinic...

Background: Childhood arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) is associated with significant morbidity with up to 50% of affected children developing hemiparesis. Hemiparesis is assumed to influence participation within the peer group, but it is unclear to what extent its severity affects participation in different areas of social life. Methods: Thirteen...

The recently developed Tyneside Pegboard Test (TPT) assesses both unimanual and bimanual dexterity in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Our aim was to explore the TPT psychometric properties and the impact of sensorimotor impairments on unimanual and bimanual dexterity. Forty-nine children with uCP (mean age 9y8m, SD 1y11m, 30 males,...

Telerehabilitation has become part of our daily treatments, although there lacks a simple, low-cost, and organized system that coordinates therapists, children, and parents in the process, while maintaining the social and motivational aspects of in-person rehabilitation. Here, we describe a telerehabilitation system under development, that includes...

Background To develop individualized motor rehabilitation, knowledge of the neuroplastic processes after childhood arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) is crucial. To this purpose, resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) have been used. While rsfMRI depicts functional connectivity between cortical networks at res...

Background Childhood arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) is associated with considerable morbidity, whereby up to 50% of the children with AIS develop hemiparesis. Whilst it is assumed that hemiparesis may impair participation in activities with peers, it remains unknown what their participation patterns are and to what extent they relate to hemiparesis...

Background Childhood arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) is associated with significant morbidity with up to 50% of affected children developing hemiparesis. Hemiparesis is assumed to influence participation within the peer group, but it is unclear to what extent its severity affects participation in different areas of social life. Methods Thirteen chil...

Aim We explored the psychometric properties of the recently developed Tyneside Pegboard Test (TPT) for unimanual and bimanual dexterity in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) and investigated the impact of sensorimotor impairments on manual dexterity. Method In this cross‐sectional study, the TPT was assessed in 49 children with unilatera...

Studies of amblyopia have typically focused on purely visual problems, although amblyopia also causes deficits in motor control: trajectories have inaccurate endpoints, with increased duration and pathlength. Poor stereo-acuity may explain these deficits. We will compare behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of motor control to stereovision...

Aim To investigate the inter‐ and intrarater reliability of the Woods and Teuber scale to detect mirror movements in children and adolescents with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Method A convenience sample of children and adolescents with unilateral CP (n=68; 31 males, 37 females; mean age 12y 2mo, SD 3y 6mo) in Manual Ability Classification leve...

In children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP), the presence of sensorimotor impairments compromises active involvement of the hand in daily life, impeding self-care independence. The variability in upper limb problems among these children is substantial, ranging from minor deficiencies with in-hand manipulation to no active grasp. This variabili...

Abstract Tasks designed to study adult attention skills have helped clarify the development of such skills in childhood. We recently demonstrated how children develop goal-based visual and stimulus-driven multisensory attention. Here, we tested whether children improve these attention skills within a single testing session, and whether this depend...

Background To develop individualized motor rehabilitation, knowledge of the neuroplastic processes after childhood arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) is crucial. To this purpose, we can use resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). While rsfMRI depicts functional connectivity between cortical networks at rest, t...

The interaction between brain damage and motor function is not yet fully understood in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Therefore, a semi-quantitative MRI (sqMRI) scale was used to explore whether identified brain lesions related to functional abilities and gait pathology in this population. A retrospective cohort of ambulatory children w...

Modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT) improves upper limb (UL) motor execution in unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). As these children also show motor planning deficits, action-observation training (AOT) might be of additional value. Here, we investigated the combined value of AOT to mCIMT on UL kinematics in children with uCP in a ran...

This study explored the role of lesion timing (periventricular white matter versus cortical and deep grey matter lesions) and type of corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern (contralateral, bilateral, ipsilateral) on white matter characteristics of the CST, medial lemniscus, superior thalamic radiations and sensorimotor transcallosal fibers in chi...

This study explored the role of lesion timing (periventricular white matter versus cortical and deep grey matter lesions) and type of corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern (contralateral, bilateral, ipsilateral) on white matter characteristics of the CST, medial lemniscus, superior thalamic radiations and sensorimotor transcallosal fibers in chi...

Background: High frequency alternating current (HFAC) stimulation have been shown to produce a peripheral nerve conduction block. Currently, all the studies applying HFAC stimulation in clinical studies, have employed frequencies below 10 kHz. The main aim of this work was to investigate the neuromodulatory effect of transcutaneous 20 kHz stimulat...

The recent development of the Tyneside Pegboard Test (TPT) allows assessing both unimanual and bimanual dexterity in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Our aim was to investigate differences in dexterity between Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) levels and the impact of sensorimotor impairments on unimanual and bimanual dexter...

Mirror movements (MM) influence bimanual function in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). MMs are related to brain lesion characteristics and the corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern. However, the combined impact of these neurological factors remains unknown, which was investigated in this study. Forty-nine children with uCP (mean ag...

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) improves upper limb (UL) motor execution in unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Additional training targeting motor planning deficits might be of additional value. Here, we investigated the combined effect of action-observation training (AOT) to CIMT and identified factors influencing treatment response. For...

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) improves upper limb (UL) motor execution in unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Action-observation training (AOT) might be of additional value as these children also show motor planning deficits. Here, we investigated the combined value of AOT to CIMT on UL kinematics in children with uCP. Thirty-six childre...

Background. Mirror movements (MM) influence bimanual performance in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). Whilst MM are related to brain lesion characteristics and the corticospinal tract (CST) wiring pattern, the combined impact of these neurological factors remains unknown. Objective. To investigate the combined impact of neurological fa...

Introduction: Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) improves upper limb (UL) motor execution in unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). As these children also show motor planning deficits, action-observation training (AOT) might be of additional value. Here, we investigated the combined effect of AOT to CIMT and identified factors influencing treatme...

Modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT) improves upper limb (UL) motor execution in unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). As these children also show motor planning deficits, action-observation training (AOT) might be of additional value. Here, we investigated the combined value of AOT to mCIMT on UL kinematics in children with uCP. Thirty-...

Introduction Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) improves upper limb (UL) motor execution in unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). As these children also show motor planning deficits, action-observation training (AOT) might be of additional value. Here, we investigated the combined effect of AOT to CIMT and identified factors influencing treatmen...

This study aimed to identify the relationships between clinical impairments and gait deviations in children with cerebral palsy (CP). A retrospective convenience sample of 367 children with CP was selected (3–18 years old) and divided in two groups based on clinical symptomatology [unilateral (uCP) / bilateral CP (bCP), (n = 167/200)]. All children...

In children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP), the corticospinal tract (CST)-wiring patterns may differ (contralateral, ipsilateral or bilateral), partially determining motor deficits. However, the impact of such CST-wiring on functional connectivity remains unknown. Here, we explored resting-state sensorimotor functional connectivity in 26 uCP...

The exploration of the environment mainly occurs through interaction with our hands: we touch, manipulate, and inspect objects to learn how to use them. In this process, both sensory and motor systems are coordinated to provide integrated information which contribute to an optimal learning. A disruption in the brain regions responsible for these in...

In children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP), the corticospinal tract (CST) wiring patterns may differ (contralateral, ipsilateral or bilateral), partially determining motor deficits. However, the impact of such CST wiring on functional connectivity remains unknown. Here, we explored differences in functional connectivity of the resting-state s...

Knowledge on long-term evolution of upper limb function in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) is scarce. The objective was to report the five-year evolution in upper limb function and identify factors influencing time trends. Eighty-one children (mean age 9 y and 11 mo, SD 3 y and 3 mo) were assessed at baseline with follow-up after 6 mon...

Background: High-frequency alternating currents of greater than 1 kHz applied on peripheral nerves has been used in animal studies to produce a motor nerve block. It has been evidenced that frequencies higher than 5 kHz are necessary to produce a complete peripheral nerve block in primates, whose nerve thickness is more similar to humans. The aim...

Brain lesion characteristics (timing, location, and extent) and the type of corticospinal tract (CST) wiring have been proposed as determinants of upper limb (UL) motor function in unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP), yet an investigation of the relative combined impact of these factors on both motor and sensory functions is still lacking. Here, we fir...

Background: Upper limb (UL) deficits in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP) have traditionally been targeted with motor execution treatment models, such as modified Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (mCIMT). However, new approaches based on a neurophysiological model such as Action-Observation Training (AOT) may provide new opportuniti...

Background and aim Understanding the maturation of upper limb (UL) movement characteristics in typically developing (TD) children is key to explore UL deficits in those with neurodevelopmental disorders. Three-dimensional motion analysis (3DMA) offers a reliable tool to comprehensively evaluate UL motion. However, studies thus far mainly focused on...

Figs (S1-S8) representing the upper limb movement patterns of all four age-groups during (S1) reaching forward, (S2) reaching upward, (S3) reaching sideways, (S4) reach-to-grasp a sphere, (S5) reach-to-grasp a vertically oriented cylinder, (S6) hand-to-mouth, (S7) hand-to-head, (S8) hand-to-shoulder. Joints are presented in rows, from top to bottom...

Figs (S9-S16) representing the effect sizes (Cohen’s d) of the pair-wise post-hoc comparisons during (S9) reaching forward, (S10) reaching upward, (S11) reaching sideways, (S12) reach-to-grasp a sphere, (S13) reach-to-grasp a vertically oriented cylinder, (S14) hand-to-mouth, (S15) hand-to-head, (S16) hand-to-shoulder. Joints are presented in rows,...

Background: Prolonged ambulation is considered important in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). However, previous studies analyzing DMD gait were sensitive to false positive outcomes, caused by uncorrected multiple comparisons, regional focus bias, and inter-component covariance bias. Also, while muscle weakness is often suggested to...

Objective: To introduce the Windmill-task, a new objective assessment tool to quantify the presence of mirror movements (MMs) in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP), which are typically assessed with the observation-based Woods and Teuber scale (W&T). Design: Prospective, observational, cohort pilot study. Setting: Children's hospita...

Background: In children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP) virtually nothing is known on the relation between structural brain damage and upper limb (UL) kinematics quantified with three-dimensional movement analysis (3DMA). This explorative study aimed to (1) investigate differences in UL kinematics between children with different lesion timings...

Upper limb three-dimensional movement analysis (UL-3DMA) offers a reliable and valid tool to evaluate movement patterns in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). However, it remains unknown to what extent the underlying motor impairments explain deviant movement patterns. Such understanding is key to develop efficient rehabilitation program...

Goal: Mirror movements (MM) occur during unilateral actions and manifest as involuntary muscle activity of the passive limb, "mirroring" voluntary actions executed by the contralateral homologous body part. They are a normal motor feature in young children that gradually disappears. In children suffering from neurological disorders, e.g., unilater...

Introduction The clinical application of upper limb (UL) three-dimensional movement analysis (3DMA) in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP) remains challenging, despite its benefits compared to conventional clinical scales. Moreover, knowledge on UL movement pathology and how this relates to clinical parameters remains scarce. Therefore, w...

Kinematic waveforms of all three MACS groups during HTH. Movement patterns of wrist, elbow, shoulder, scapula and trunk angles of children in MACS I (blue), MACS II (orange) and MACS III (yellow). The grey line indicates the average movement patterns of 60 typically developing children (shaded bar represents 1 standard deviation). Abbreviations: TD...

Descriptive statistics of clinical outcomes according to MACS levels. *, Kruskal Wallis; ¥, Fisher’s exact test; MACS, Manual Ability Classification System; N, number; TPD, two-point discrimination; AHA, Assisting Hand Assessment; MA2, Melbourne Assessment 2; ROM, range of motion; N, number; Me, median; IQR, interquartile range; significant differe...

Kinematic waveforms of all three MACS groups during HTM. Movement patterns of wrist, elbow, shoulder, scapula and trunk angles of children in MACS I (blue), MACS II (orange) and MACS III (yellow). The grey line indicates the average movement patterns of 60 typically developing children (shaded bar represents 1 standard deviation). Abbreviations: TD...

Kinematic waveforms of all three MACS groups during RGV. Movement patterns of wrist, elbow, shoulder, scapula and trunk angles of children in MACS I (blue), MACS II (orange) and MACS III (yellow). The grey line indicates the average movement patterns of 60 typically developing children (shaded bar represents 1 standard deviation). Abbreviations: TD...

Background Estimation of surface intramuscular coherence has been used to indirectly assess pyramidal tract activity following spinal cord injury (SCI), especially within the 15-30 Hz bandwidth. However, change in higher frequency (>40 Hz) muscle coherence during SCI has not been characterised. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify chan...

Children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP) typically present with largely divergent upper extremity sensorimotor impairments that impact on their independence and quality of life. While clinical assessment tools have vastly contributed to our understanding of arm and hand problems in children with uCP, the availability of three-dimensional movem...