HABIT-ILE in Infants and Toddlers With Cerebral Palsy (Baby HABIT-ILE)

Assess the development of infants and toddlers (1-42 months); three subitems will be considered, the Cognitive Scale, including assessments of attention (familiar and unfamiliar objects, looking for a fallen object, and pretend play), the Language Scale, including understanding and expression of language (recognition of objects and people, following directions, and naming objects and pictures), and the Motor Scale, assessing gross and fine motor skills (including grasping, sitting, stacking blocks, and climbing stairs). Raw scores of the items are converted to scale scores and composite scores (Mean 100, SD 15) ranging from 40 to 160 (higher scores indicates better performance).

Assess gross motor function of children with cerebral palsy (scored in percentage)

Through different simple tasks, measures the visual field, the visuo-motor coordination, the orientation of attention in the space and the eye pursuit.

Clinical assessment will be performed to describe the baseline of the ophthalmological condition. The ophthalmologist search for any abnormal signs of the eyes denoting the presence (or not) of visual impairments.

Parent's filled questionnaire measuring the performance of the child in the daily activities and mobility domains, focusing on the capacity of upper and lower extremities during these activities, computed through the PEDI-CAT software (scores reported in scaled scores).

Based in different children's activities, this parent's filled questionnaire evaluates the level of participation and the quality of the environment in which these activities take place. For each type of activity, caregivers assess 3 dimensions of the child's participation: frequency (8-point scale; 0-7), level of involvement (5-point scale; 1-5), caregiver's percent desire for change (2-points level (y/n) transformed in percentage; 0-100) and perceived impact of environmental support (3-point scale transformed in percentage; 0-100). A software calculates the total score with a maximum of 212

In this interview, parents set up 5 activities considered difficult in daily life. These are then assessed, in a 1 to 10 scale, regarding the child's self-perception of performance and satisfaction of it. The total score is the average of the scores for perception and satisfaction separately (score from 1 to 10)

Through a 3D motion system, we measure the percentage of upper extremity trajectory during a reaching task.

Through a 3D motion system, we measure the variability of the movement during a reaching task.

Through a 3D motion system, we measure the time from onset to end of the task (in seconds) during a reaching task.

With a movement sensor on each wrist, the percentage of total time spent in movement (i.e. crawling, walking and running) is measured. Calculated in terms of the changes in the acceleration (m/s2).

Regional brain cortical thickness is acquired from high resolution 3D T1-weighted structural imaging data. For each investigated region, mean cortical metrics (in millimeters) are assessed between the pial surface and the white/grey boundary.

FA is a scalar value (no unit) between 0 and 1 that describes the degree of anisotropy of white matter water molecules. It is measured non-invasively via brain MRI using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a modality of Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI). Increased values indicate a higher directionality of the tissue structure.

AD, RD and MD are values ranging from 0 to 3.10-3 [mm2/s] that describe the degree of axial, radial and mean molecular diffusion of white matter water molecules. It is measured non-invasively via brain MRI using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a modality of Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI). An increased MD can be considered to be an indicator of white matter damage.

The orientation dispersion index (ODI), intracellular volume fraction (ICVF) and the fraction of the isotropic compartment (ISOF) are scalar values ranging from 0 to 1 (no units) that describe the orientation of neural fibers, and the volume fraction of the intracellular and isotropic compartment. It is measured non-invasively via brain MRI using the Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) model combined with a Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) sequence. The results reflects the overall coherence of the fibers, with zero representing highly coherent structures, hence less dispersion of the fibers.

By representing each voxel of the brain as the sum of multiple compartments (representing either a neural fiber population or an isotropic diffusion), the volume fraction ("frac", ranging from 0 to 1, no unit) and heterogeneity ("HEI", ranging from 0 to 1, no unit) of each compartment can be estimated. These metrics are measured non-invasively via brain MRI using the DIstribution of 3D Anisotropic MicrOstructural eNvironments in Diffusion-compartment imaging (DIAMOND) model combined with a Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) sequence.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) evaluates the regional interactions that occur during the resting or task-negative state. The magnitude of the brain activation during rs-fMRI will be assessed

Using a multiple-compartment approach, the signal obtained from a voxel can be estimated as the sum of multiple fiber populations, each presenting a specific fraction ('frac', ranging from 0 to 1, no unit), fiber volume fraction ('fvf', ranging from 0 to 1, no unit) and diffusivity ('diff', in [mm2/s]). On top of those fiber populations, isotropic compartments can also be represented with a specific fraction (frac) and diffusivity (diff). These metrics are measured non-invasively via brain MRI using the Microstructure Fingerprinting model combined with a Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) sequence.