Do muscle afferents contribute to the cervical response evoked by electrical stimulation of the median nerve in man?

1988 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Reni ◽  
S. Ratto ◽  
G. Abbruzzese ◽  
M. Abbruzzese ◽  
E. Favale
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Median Nerve ◽  
Muscle Afferents ◽  
Stimulation Of

Central command, but not muscle reflex, stimulates cutaneous sympathetic efferents of cats

1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (5) ◽  
pp. H1552-H1559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeen M. Hill ◽  
Marc P. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Blocking Agent ◽  
Muscle Afferents ◽  
Group Iii ◽  
Hairy Skin ◽  
Sympathetic Efferents ◽  
Muscle Reflex ◽  
Decerebrate Cats ◽  
Sympathetic Discharge ◽  
Stimulation Of

We determined the effects of stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) and the muscle reflex, each evoked separately, on the discharge of cutaneous sympathetic fibers innervating the hairy skin of decerebrate cats. Electrical stimulation of the MLR was performed while the cats were paralyzed with vecuronium bromide. The muscle reflex was evoked while the cats were not paralyzed by electrical stimulation of the tibial nerve at current intensities that did not activate directly group III and IV muscle afferents. MLR stimulation increased, on average, the discharge of the 23 cutaneous sympathetic fibers tested ( P < 0.05). The muscle reflex, in contrast, had no overall effect on the discharge of 21 sympathetic fibers tested ( P > 0.05). Both maneuvers markedly increased mean arterial pressure and heart rate ( P < 0.05). Prevention of the baroreceptor reflex with the α-adrenergic blocking agent phentolamine did not reveal a stimulatory effect of the muscle reflex on cutaneous sympathetic discharge. We conclude that the MLR is a more important mechanism than is the muscle reflex in controlling sympathetic discharge to hairy skin during dynamic exercise.

scholarly journals Direct MRI mapping of neuronal activity evoked by electrical stimulation of the median nerve at the right wrist

2009 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1073-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiqun Xue ◽  
Xiying Chen ◽  
Thomas Grabowski ◽  
Jinhu Xiong
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Median Nerve ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
The Right ◽  
Stimulation Of

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of somatosensory cortex activity produced by electrical stimulation of the median nerve or tactile stimulation of the index finger

2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 774-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Boakye ◽  
Sean C. Huckins ◽  
Nikolaus M. Szeverenyi ◽  
Bobby I. Taskey ◽  
Charles J. Hodge
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Median Nerve ◽  
Somatosensory Cortex ◽  
Tactile Stimulation ◽  
Index Finger ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Right ◽  
Fine Print ◽  
Stimulation Of

Object. Functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging was used to determine patterns of cerebral blood flow changes in the somatosensory cortex that result from median nerve stimulation (MNS).Methods. Ten healthy volunteers underwent stimulation of the right median nerve at frequencies of 5.1 Hz (five volunteers) and 50 Hz (five volunteers). The left median nerve was stimulated at frequencies of 5.1 Hz (two volunteers) and 50 Hz (five volunteers). Tactile stimulation (with a soft brush) of the right index finger was also applied (three volunteers). Functional MR imaging data were transformed into Talairach space coordinates and averaged by group. Results showed significant activation (p < 0.001) in the following regions: primary sensorimotor cortex (SMI), secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), parietal operculum, insula, frontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and posterior parietal cortices (Brodmann's Areas 7 and 40). Further analysis revealed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between volumes of cortical activation in the SMI or SII resulting from electrical stimuli at 5.1 Hz and 50 Hz. There existed no significant differences (p > 0.05) in cortical activity in either the SMI or SII resulting from either left- or right-sided MNS. With the exception of the frontal cortex, areas of cortical activity in response to tactile stimulation were anatomically identical to those regions activated by electrical stimulation. In the SMI and SII, activation resulting from tactile stimulation was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from that resulting from electrical stimulation.Conclusions. Electrical stimulation of the median nerve is a reproducible and effective means of activating multiple somatosensory cortical areas, and fMR imaging can be used to investigate the complex network that exists between these areas.

Nitric Oxide Implicates c-Fos Expression in the Cuneate Nucleus Following Electrical Stimulation of the Transected Median Nerve

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsin-Ying Wang ◽  
Yi-Ju Tsai ◽  
Seu-Hwa Chen ◽  
Chi-Te Lin ◽  
June-Horng Lue
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Median Nerve ◽  
Cuneate Nucleus ◽  
Fos Expression ◽  
Stimulation Of

Group III muscle afferents evoke reflex depressor responses to repetitive muscle contractions in rabbits

2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (3) ◽  
pp. H871-H877 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Legramante ◽  
G. Raimondi ◽  
C. M. Adreani ◽  
S. Sacco ◽  
F. Iellamo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Arterial Pressure ◽  
Pressor Response ◽  
Muscle Afferents ◽  
Triceps Surae ◽  
Muscle Twitch ◽  
Group Iii ◽  
Twitch Contraction ◽  
Depressor Response ◽  
Stimulation Of

Repetitive-twitch contraction of the hindlimb muscles in anesthetized rabbits consistently evokes a reflex depressor response, whereas this type of contraction in anesthetized cats evokes a reflex pressor response in about one-half of the preparations tested. Rapidly conducting group III fibers appear to comprise the afferent arm of the reflex arc, evoking the depressor response to twitch contraction in rabbits because electrical stimulation of their axons reflexly decreases arterial pressure. In contrast, electrical stimulation of the axons of slowly conducting group III and group IV afferents reflexly increases arterial pressure in rabbits. In the present study, we examined the discharge properties of group III and IV muscle afferents and found that the former (i.e., 13 of 20), but not the latter (i.e., 0 of 10), were stimulated by 5 min of repetitive-twitch contraction (1 Hz) of the rabbit triceps surae muscles. Moreover, most of the group III afferents responding to contraction appeared to be mechanically sensitive, discharging in synchrony with the muscle twitch. On average, rapidly conducting group III afferents responded for the 5-min duration of 1-Hz repetitive-twitch contraction, whereas slowly conducting group III afferents responded only for the first 2 min of contraction. We conclude that rapidly conducting group III afferents, which are mechanically sensitive, are primarily responsible for evoking the reflex depressor response to repetitive-twitch contractions in anesthetized rabbits.

Defensive peripersonal space: the blink reflex evoked by hand stimulation is increased when the hand is near the face

2012 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 880-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. F. Sambo ◽  
M. Liang ◽  
G. Cruccu ◽  
G. D. Iannetti
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Median Nerve ◽  
Safety Margin ◽  
Peripersonal Space ◽  
Blink Reflex ◽  
Hand Position ◽  
Electromyographic Activity ◽  
The Face ◽  
Stimulation Of

Electrical stimulation of the median nerve at the wrist may elicit a blink reflex [hand blink reflex (HBR)] mediated by a neural circuit at brain stem level. As, in a Sherringtonian sense, the blink reflex is a defensive response, in a series of experiments we tested, in healthy volunteers, whether and how the HBR is modulated by the proximity of the stimulated hand to the face. Electromyographic activity was recorded from the orbicularis oculi, bilaterally. We observed that the HBR is enhanced when the stimulated hand is inside the peripersonal space of the face, compared with when it is outside, irrespective of whether the proximity of the hand to the face is manipulated by changing the position of the arm ( experiment 1) or by rotating the head while keeping the arm position constant ( experiment 3). Experiment 2 showed that such HBR enhancement has similar magnitude when the participants have their eyes closed. Experiments 4 and 5 showed, respectively, that the blink reflex elicited by the electrical stimulation of the supraorbital nerve, as well as the N20 wave of the somatosensory evoked potentials elicited by the median nerve stimulation, are entirely unaffected by hand position. Taken together, our results provide compelling evidence that the brain stem circuits mediating the HBR in humans undergo tonic and selective top-down modulation from higher order cortical areas responsible for encoding the location of somatosensory stimuli in external space coordinates. These findings support the existence of a “defensive” peripersonal space, representing a safety margin advantageous for survival.

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