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Human cutaneous mechanoreceptors during regeneration: Physiology and interpretation
Author(s) -
Mackel Robert
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410180202
Subject(s) - microneurography , regeneration (biology) , medicine , neuroscience , electrophysiology , sensory system , psychology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , baroreflex , heart rate , blood pressure
Percutaneous microneurography was used to record activity from single cutaneous afferents reinnervating the glabrous skin of the hand. Recordings were obtained from 6 months to 10 years after complete transsection of the median and/or ulnar nerves with subsequent repair. Transitional properties in the discharge behavior and receptive field characteristics of regenerating afferents were detected during the early stages of regeneration, when axonal maturation was still in progress; these may contribute to the slow time course of sensory recovery. Properties of reinnervated receptors long after nerve repair, when regeneration can be considered complete, indicated a correlation between electrophysiological findings and the final state of clinical recovery. The insights into the neural basis of sensory deficits provided by single‐unit microneurography are not yielded by conventional study of the compound action potentials. This technique reveals new information about the pathophysiological nature of peripheral nerve injury and leads to a reinterpretation of clinical deficits.