Objective Multivariate autoregressive model based on EMG-EMG coherence is used to analyze the lower extremity muscle activities for children with cerebral palsy (CP) when walking. Methods EMG signals were collected from four muscles: tibialis anterior (TA), gastrocnemius (GA), rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) of each leg for both CP groups and typical developed (TD) group, and pairwise muscle coherence values were calculated and compared among the three groups. Results Among six pairwise muscle coherence, only VL-RF displayed significant difference among the groups (P<0.05). I-II level CP group had higher coherence and III-IV level CP group had lower coherence than TD group. Conclusions EMG-EMG coherence provides a method to study muscle connections during walking, especially for the children with CP. From coherence analysis we find that central nervous system in the control of muscles is different.
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