The 'mirror box' illusion : manipulation of visual information during bimanual coordination in children with and without spastic hemiparetic cerebral palsy

The object of this thesis was to improve our understanding of bimanual coordination and neuromuscular activation in children with and without spastic hemiparetic cerebral palsy (SHCP) and to gain insight into the contribution of visual information towards interlimb coupling. The availability of visual information was manipulated by placing a glass screen, opaque screen or a mirror ('mirror box') between the arms. Using this arrangement, visual information was available from both arms (glass condition), from one arm only (opaque screen condition), or from one arm and its mirror reflection ('mirror (box) condition) that was superimposed on the arm behind mirror. When both arms were moved simultaneously in the latter condition, children with a strong asymmetry between body-sides as a result of SHCP saw a visual perception of a zero lag, symmetric movement between the two less impaired arms. Without visual manipulation it was found that children with SHCP exhibited a similar mean coordination pattern compared to typically developing (TD) children, but had greater movement variability between the arms.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo