Through research and national and international collaborations, the Phelps team is refining outcome measures and striving to develop novel therapies to improve the motor function of children with cerebral palsy.
Studies have found that 60-70% of people with cerebral palsy have pain by adulthood. We are starting to unravel which individuals are at greatest risk of pain that limits participation in activities. We have found that these may be risk factors for pain for people with cerebral palsy:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Attention difficulties
- Lower-income household
- Difficulty feeling sharp or cool sensations
Chronic pain appears to be a major risk factor for repeating a grade in school.
Children and adults with cerebral palsy have challenges controlling movement. With cutting-edge MRI techniques, we found that sensory brain pathways are also commonly affected. A different pattern of sensory pathway injury may be a risk factor for developing chronic pain.
- A second dimension of somatosensory system injury? Thalamic volume loss and neuropathic pain in adults with cerebral palsy and periventricular white matter injury
- Magnetic resonance imaging sequences for children with spastic cerebral palsy: Is two better than one?
- Cerebral palsy and the placenta: A review of the maternal-placental-fetal origins of cerebral palsy.
- Current Phelps’ Research (Now Recruiting)
- Principles of Medical and Surgical Treatment of Cerebral Palsy
- Clinical Factors Associated With Chronic Pain in Communicative Adults With Cerebral Palsy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Functional and Structural Brain Connectivity in Children With Bilateral Cerebral Palsy Compared to Age-Related Controls and in Response to Intensive Rapid-Reciprocal Leg Training
- Sensory and motor deficits in children with cerebral palsy born preterm correlate with diffusion tensor imaging abnormalities in thalamocortical pathways