Zoe A. Englander1,
Anastasiya Batrachenko1, Carolyn E. Pizoli, 12,
Christopher M. Petty1, Jessica Sun2, 3,
Mohamad A. Mikati2, Joanne Kurtzberg4, 5,
Allen W. Song1
1Brain
Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; 2Department
of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; 3The
Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy Center, Duke University, Durham ,
NC, United States; 4The Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy
Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; 5Department of
Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham , NC, United States
We performed a whole brain white matter connectivity analysis in 18 pediatric patients with bilateral Cerebral Palsy (CP) in order to examine patterns of global white matter deficit. The relationship between white matter connectivity deficit and clinical disease severity was assessed. It was found that long range connectivities were increasingly impaired with increasing CP severity. Of individuals who qualified for cognitive assessment, those with lower cognitive scores showed more severe decreases in long range connectivity than did individuals with higher cognitive scores, suggesting a possible mechanism for the developmental delay and cognitive deficits that accompany sensorimotor dysfunctions in CP.