What is Cerebral Palsy

What research is being done?

Much of what we now know about CP came from researches, including the identification of new causes and risk factors for cerebral palsy, the discovery of drugs to control stiff and spastic muscles and more precise methods to deliver them, refined surgical techniques to correct abnormalities in muscle and bone, and a greater understanding of how and why brain damage at critical stages of fetal development causes CP.  

Many scientists think that a significant number of children develop CP because of mishaps early in brain development. They are examining how neurons (nerve cells) in the brain specialize and form the right connections with other brain cells, and they are looking for ways to prevent the factors that disrupt the normal processes of brain development.

Genetic defects are sometimes responsible for the brain malformations and abnormalities that cause cerebral palsy.  Scientists are searching for the genes responsible for these abnormalities by collecting DNA samples from people with cerebral palsy and their families and using genetic screening techniques to discover linkages between individual genes and specific types of abnormality – primarily those associated with the process in the developing brain in which neurons migrate from where they are born to where they settle into neural circuits (called neural migration).

Scientists are scrutinizing events in newborn babies’ brains, such as bleeding, epileptic seizures, and breathing and circulation problems, which can cause the abnormal release of chemicals that triggers the kind of damage that causes cerebral palsy.  For example, research has shown that bleeding in the brain unleashes dangerously high amounts of glutamate, a chemical that helps neurons communicate.  However, too much glutamate overexcites and kills neurons.  By learning how brain chemicals that are normally helpful become dangerously toxic, scientists will have opportunities to develop new drugs to block their harmful effects.

Researchers are using imaging techniques and neurobehavioral tests to predict those preterm infants who will develop cerebral palsy. If these screening techniques are successful, doctors will be able to identify infants at risk for cerebral palsy before they are born.

Periventricular white matter damage—the most common cause of CP—is characterized by death of the white matter around the fluid-filled ventricles in the brain. The periventricular area contains nerve fibers that carry messages from the brain to the body’s muscles. Researchers are hoping to develop preventative strategies for white matter damage. For example, researchers are examining the role the brain chemicals play on white matter development in the brain. Another project involves the development of a novel mouse model and cell-based therapies for perinatal white matter injury.  Researchers are studying a chemical found naturally in the body, called erythropoietin to see if it decreases the risk of CP in prematurely born infants.

Scientists continue to look at new therapies and novel ways to use existing options to treat individuals with CP, including:

Constraint-induced therapy (CIT) is a promising therapy for CP. CIT typically involves restraining the stronger limb (such as the “good” arm in a person who has been affected by a stroke on one side of the body) in a cast and forcing the weaker arm to perform intensive activities every day over a period of weeks.  A clinical study is examining the use of different dosage levels of daily training using either full-time cast immobilization vs. part-time splint restraint in improving upper body extremity skills in children with weakness on both sides of their body. Study findings will establish evidence-based practice standards to improve lifelong neuromotor capacity in individuals with CP.

Functional electrical stimulation (FES)—the therapeutic use of low-level electrical current to stimulate muscle movement and restore useful movements such as standing or stepping—is an effective way to target and strengthen spastic muscles. Researchers are evaluating how FES-assisted stationary cycling can improve physical conditioning and general lower extremity muscle strength in adolescents.  Robotic therapy that applies controlled force to the leg during the swing phase of gait is may improve the efficacy of body weight supported treadmill training in children with CP. The results from this study will lead to an innovative clinical therapy aimed at improving locomotor function in children with CP.

Botulinum toxin (Botox), injected locally, has become a standard treatment in children with spastic movement disorders such as CP. Recent animal studies suggest Botox degrades bone but there are no studies of its skeletal consequences in humans. Other research shows a low intensity vibration treatment can improve bone structure in the lower extremity leg bones of children with CP. In a novel clinical study being conducted, researchers are determining the effect of Botox treatment in conjunction with a daily vibration treatment on bone mass and bone structure in children with spastic CP.

Systemic hypothermia—the controlled medical cooling of the body’s core temperature—appears to protect the brain and decrease the rate of death and disability from certain disorders and brain injuries. Previous studies have shown that hypothermia is effective in treating neurologic symptoms in term or late preterm babies less than one month old that are attributed to hypoxic-ischemia (HIE, brain injury due to a severe decrease in the oxygen supply to the body), which can cause quadriplegic CP, with or without movement disorder. In an effort to determine the most effective cooling strategies, researchers are studying different cooling treatments to improve the chance of survival and neurodevelopment outcomes 18-22 months post-treatment in infants with neurologic symptoms attributed to HIE. Other researchers are examining if combined therapy using hypothermia and recombinant erythropoietin (a hormone that promotes the growth of new red blood cells and increases oxygen levels in the blood) is more effective than either therapy alone in treating neurodevelopmental handicaps in an animal model involving lack of oxygen before, during, or just after birth. 

As researchers continue to explore new treatments for cerebral palsy and to expand our knowledge of brain development, we can expect significant improvements in the care of children with cerebral palsy and many other disorders that strike in early life.