Types of Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a condition that affects motor control centers of the brain as the brain develops: during pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood up to about age three. Cerebral Palsy can manifest itself in a number of motor disorders including stiff, awkward or uncontrolled movement, sometimes seizures. Other indications include: balance problems, disturbances of sensation, cognition, communication, and depth perception.

Neurologists have identified four types of Cerebral Palsy: ataxic, athetoid, spastic, and mixed.

Ataxic
Indications Children with ataxic CP usually have poor balance, coordination problems, and a disturbed sense of depth perception, combined with a combination of low muscle tone and shakiness they often have a staggering walk placing their feet unusually far apart. Any activity that requires a steady hand, such as writing or using scissors can be difficult and take a long time to complete.
Causes Ataxic CP stems from damage to the cerebellum, the brain’s center for stability and equilibrium.
Prevalence The least common form of cerebral palsy. This rare form of CP affects about 5–10 percent of the children diagnosed with the disorder.
Athetoid
Indications Athetoid CP is often characterized by random, involuntary movements that can interfere with any type of skill that requires control and coordination, as diverse as speaking and feeding. Children affected with athetoid CP may have swallowing problems, drooling, and slurred speech. Or simply sitting still can be very difficult. Children with athetoid CP seem to be constantly in motion especially during periods of emotional stress and disappear during sleep.
Causes Athetoid CP can be traced to damage to the basal ganglia or cerebellum — areas of the brain responsible for processing the signals that enable smooth, coordinated movements and maintaining body posture.
Prevalence About 25 percent of all people with cerebral palsy have athetoid CP.
Spastic
Indications Children with spastic CP typically have tight, stiff muscles which cause rigid, erratic and jerky movements and result in difficulty changing positions or letting go of objects. Depending upon the individual, spasticity may be very mild and affect only a few movements, or very severe and affect the whole body. The degree of spasticity also can change over time.
Causes Generally caused by damage to the brain’s motor cortex.
Prevalence Spastic CP is the most common type of cerebral palsy (estimates range from 50–80 percent).
Mixed
Indications Most often, these children have both the tight muscle tone of spastic CP and the involuntary movements of athetoid CP. Usually the spasticity is more obvious at first, with involuntary movement increasing between nine months and three years old as the child develops.
Causes The cause is injury to both the pyramidal and extrapyramidal areas of the brain, which affect muscle tone and voluntary movement.
Prevalence About 10 percent of children with cerebral palsy have what is known as a mixed-type cerebral palsy.