6533b82ffe1ef96bd1294927

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Cerebral potentials elicited by mechanical stimuli to the human leg: influence of artifacts

H C HopfJ EllrichW Meier

subject

AdultMaleReflex StretchBrain DeathElectroencephalographyAnesthesia SpinalReference ValuesEvoked Potentials SomatosensorymedicineHumansHuman legReflex hammerCerebral CortexAfferent PathwaysLegmedicine.diagnostic_testbusiness.industryMusclesElectroencephalographyGeneral MedicineAnatomyMiddle AgedMedian nerveMedian NerveTendonmedicine.anatomical_structureSpinal CordNeurologySomatosensory evoked potentialScalpReflexFemaleNeurology (clinical)Tibial NervebusinessMechanoreceptors

description

Mechanical stimulation with a reflex hammer was applied to the quadriceps muscle tendon of healthy volunteers and patients. The time-locked electrical signals were recorded from the scalp. In all cases, reproducible potentials could be recorded, with latencies in a range of 20 ms to 100 ms. The potentials recorded in patients under complete spinal anesthesia were similar to those derived before the anesthesia. In brain dead patients who showed absence of median nerve or posterior tibial nerve SEP, reproducible potentials after mechanical stimuli could be recorded as well. The results suggest that the hammer taps lead to mechanical shock waves which are propagated along the body producing time locked artifacts in the EEG record which are not eliminated by the averaging technique.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
1992-02-01Acta Neurologica Scandinavica
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.1992.tb04013.x