Article

PURPOSE: To determine the type of visual information used by children with
spastic unilateral cerebral palsy (SUCP) in order to intercept a ball and to
verify whether this information was dependent on the side of the lesion. More
specifically, it was examined whether the interception was controlled on the
basis of a time or a distance strategy, initiating the catch when the ball is at
a fixed time interval or at a fixed distance from the point of interception.
METHODS: Three groups of children were included. Children with either a left
sided (LHL) or a right sided lesion (RHL) and children without a lesion
[typically developing (TD)] intercepted a ball from a conveyor belt. In order to
intercept the ball successfully they had to walk and to reach for the ball at the
interception point 4 m away. RESULTS: Children with LHL had a longer decision
time and started their reach movement earlier. In 56% of the children with LHL a
distance strategy was observed, while in the TD and the children with RHL
predominantly a time strategy was found. CONCLUSIONS:
The side of the lesion
influences the visual information used to initiate interceptive actions.

Langue : ANGLAIS