Personalized Innovative Intervention Pathways to Promote EF in Children With CP

Summary

Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term, covering a group of disorders of movement and posture. It is now accepted that CP represents much more than a disorder of movements considering the frequent association with a broad range of impairments, including cognitive impairments. In general, multiple clinical characteristics that define and determine different functional profiles. Several studies on children with unilateral and bilateral CP have been shown that, despite the overall preserved intellectual functioning, there are specific neuropsychological impairments distinguishing the two forms, including deficits in different Executive Functions (EF) components. Executive Functions (EFs) represent a complex cognitive domain consisting of a set of top-down functions essential for adaptive goal-directed behaviour, allowing to formulate, plan, and organise ideas, cope with challenges and novelties, resist temptations and stay focused. EF represents general domain abilities transversal to several cognitive processes and underling different daily life activities and school learning skills. Empowering EF becomes therefore crucial in children with CP both to strengthen specific functional EF weaknesses and to achieve far transfer effects on other compromised domains, such as motor planning, academic skills,and/or visuospatial processing. To pursue this, the EF training needs to be integrated into the complex and multidisciplinary care context promoting innovative intervention methodologies based on scientific evidence. Recent researches and clinical practice, carried out in our Institute, supports the effectiveness of innovative interventions on EF using new technologies in typical and atypical development, such as Self-adapting web based softwares, Game-based tools or Educational Robotics. Literature suggests these technologies allow to promote timely intervention within a user-friendly context, while respecting the key criteria of evidence-based neuropsychological rehabilitation, both reducing hospitalisation times and supporting interest and motivation for participation. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the applicability of technological intervention integrated with psychomotor activities to promote EF and then secondary to measure the effect on the functional profile of children with CP, including motor planning, visuo-spatial processing and learning skills, evaluating both short-term (T2) and long-term changes (T3).

Conditions

• Executive Functions in Cerebral Palsy

Interventions

OTHER

Self-adaption web-based software for the rehabilitation of EF and visuo-spatial abilities

\- Self-adaption web-based software integrated with neuropsychomotor activities in small groups to strengthen EF. The training will take place bi-weekly, for 3 months, for approximately 60 minutes per meeting. For the intervention will be used the Bee-bot, a robot to be programmed to achieve objectives set in space, allows to stimulate navigation, visuospatial working memory and planning skills (the activities will be taken from those already used in our previous studies in children with typical development and BES (Di Lieto et al., 2020)).

OTHER

Tele-rehabilitation of EF and specific cognitive processes underlying academic skills

\- Tele-rehabilitation intervention on FE (RuntheRAN and MemoRAN). The training will be conducted at home, with periodic meetings with the clinician, for 3 months, for approximately 4/5 days a week for approximately 30/40 minutes per day. An adult (e.g. a family member) will support the child in the treatment and ensure that the exercises are carried out adequately at home. One of the following tele-rehabilitation software will be used: RuntheRAN (RidiNet, Coopertiva Sociale Anastasis), a software that aims to strengthen the prerequisites of reading by requiring the timed and progressively faster naming of colour matrices or black and white figures. MemoRAN (RidiNet, Cooperativa Sociale Anastasis), which involves rapid naming exercises of stimuli (figures and colors) presented in matrices, within tasks that require inhibition, cognitive flexibility and updating in working memory.

OTHER

Game-based tools for the rehabilitation of EF and motor planning

\- MondoELLI intervention (Cooperativa Sociale Anastasis) integrated with neuropsychomotor activities. The game-based app involves activities in small groups to strengthen various components of EF (interference control, inhibition, working memory, flexibility). The activities are organized with increasing difficulty, according to the self-adaptive algorithm, and within a narrative context.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pisa

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Florence

  collaborator OTHER

• Anastasis Società Cooperativa Sociale

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Giuseppina Sgandurra, MD, PhD · IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

5 Years

Max Age

13 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-03-01

Primary Completion

2027-01-31

Completion

2027-03-01

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations