Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is a clinically feasible intervention involving brief, sublethal periods of ischemia followed by reperfusion that has been shown to enhance motor performance, strength, and balance when combined with training in healthy adults and individuals with neurological conditions. Although RIC is thought to influence neuroplasticity through neural, metabolic, and humoral pathways, its effects on spinal-level mechanisms remain poorly understood. Emerging evidence indicates that neuroplastic adaptations occur not only at the cortical level but also within the spinal cord. Moreover, altered spinal reflex excitability is associated with spasticity, balance impairments, and functional limitations in children with cerebral palsy (CP), yet the role of spinal reflex modulations in response to RIC and balance training remains under expplored in this population. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of RIC combined with balance training on spinal reflex modulation in children with CP.
Children diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP) between the ages 8-17 years
Gross motor function classification system levels I-III
Mainstream in school and has sufficient cognition to follow the experiment instructions
Children with other developmental disabilities such as autism and developmental coordination disorders
Children with cognitive deficits such as inability to understand and follow commands, substantially lower performance at grade level in school, and/or communication problems
Children with balance disorders such as vestibular disorders, posterior fossa tumor etc.
Children with known cardiorespiratory dysfunctions