Stimulation of motor tracts in multiple sclerosis.

Percutaneous electrical stimulation of the motor cortex was used to evaluate corticospinal conduction to upper-limb motoneurons in 29 patients with multiple sclerosis. Central motor conduction abnormalities were correlated with clinical signs and somatosensory evoked potentials. Muscle responses to cortical stimulation were altered in 20 patients.

Impairment of masticatory function in hemiplegia.

We studied masseter muscle function in 15 hemiplegic patients. Direct motor responses to stimulation of the masseteric nerve were normal. Voluntary activity at maximum strength was reduced on the paretic side.

Recovery cycle of the masseter inhibitory reflex in man.

The masseter inhibitory reflex from stimulation of the mental nerve has been recorded electromyographically in 10 healthy subjects. The recovery cycle of the two silent periods interrupting the tonic contraction of the masseter muscles have been studied with the paired shock technique. There was a clear dissociation between the recovery of early and late inhibition, the latter being far more affected by a preceding impulse.

Reflex and cortical responses to dental stimuli.

Tooth pulp stimulation may evoke reflex responses in the orbicularis oculi, temporal, masseter and retronuchal muscles, which may to a varying degree contaminate the cortical evoked responses. The use of repetitive stimulation reduces the amplitude of the cortical responses but avoids the onset of the majority of the muscle reflexes. The appearance of a silent period in the temporal muscle is hard to avoid and it alters the signal recorded from S1 for the first 60-70 msec.