Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
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Laser-evoked potentials have been shown to be clinically useful for the electrophysiological assessment of nociceptive pathways. Contact heat evoked potentials (CHEP) are less established but might be advantageous for clinical purposes. This study aimed at determining the conduction velocity (CV) of central pain (spinothalamic tract, STT) pathways using contact heat stimulation in order to replicate previous findings using laser stimulation. ⋯ This study shows the importance of pain thresholds and their control to attain valid CV of the STT after contact heat stimulation in healthy subjects.
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To investigate the conditioning effects of plantar pressure on flexion reflex excitability in patients with motor complete spinal cord injury (SCI). ⋯ Activation of plantar mechanoreceptors is a feature of normal standing and walking. Rehabilitation for standing and walking in SCI commonly uses body weight support based protocols. The strong inhibitory actions of plantar pressure on reflex pathways in the isolated human spinal cord suggest that sensory feedback from the foot sole may be an important factor in successful rehabilitation of standing and stepping in SCI patients.