Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology
-
Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol · Nov 1988
Late somatosensory evoked cerebral potentials in response to cutaneous heat stimuli.
Late components of cerebral potentials evoked by brief heat pulses applied to various skin sites were used to monitor the afferent pathways of pain and temperature sensitivity. Radiation at 10.6 micron wave length generated by a CO2 laser stimulator predominantly activates superficial cutaneous A delta and C nociceptors and elicits late and ultralate cerebral potentials. This paper deals with the investigation of the component structure and topography of the A delta fibre mediated late potentials, which were compared with the corresponding late potentials in response to standard electrical nerve stimuli. ⋯ After stimulation of the lower limb all latencies were delayed by 20-30 msec. As a rule, the heat-evoked potentials appeared about 100 msec later than the corresponding potentials after electrical nerve stimulation. Similarities in interpeak latencies and scalp topography indicated similar cerebral processing.