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Submaximal stimuli activate different nerve fiber populations at different sites
Author(s) -
Preston David C.,
Venkatesh S.,
Shefner J. M.,
Logician E. L.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.880170404
Subject(s) - stimulation , nerve fiber , nerve conduction velocity , anatomy , ulnar nerve , nerve stimulation , medicine , neuroscience , biology , elbow
Theoretically, the largest and fastest nerve fibers are preferentially stimulated with submaximal stimuli. However, it is also well known that intraneural fascicular topography changes substantially along a proximal to distal axis. Because of this change in fascicular topography, we hypothesized that percutaneous submaximal stimuli applied to a nerve at different locations would stimulate different subpopulations of large fibers. We performed a series of collision studies by stimulating the ulnar nerve submaximally at proximal and distal sites at varying levels of stimulation intensity from motor threshold to supramaximal stimulation. The results suggest that variation in intraneural topography at different sites allows different large diameter nerve fiber subpopulations to be activated at submaximal stimuli, and emphasizes the importance of supramaximal stimulation to determine a valid conduction velocity. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.