Modulation ofHuman Somatosensory Cortical Excitability by Repetitive Reripheral Nerve Stimulation

초록

Objective: To investigate whether the somatosensory cortical excitability could be modulated by repetitive electrical stimulation(RES) on the tibial nerve an human ankle joint. Method: the subjects were 10 healthy volunteers. The study was composed of 3 sessions: first session,baseline evaluation; second session, RES with a intensity for proprioceptive stimulation on tibial nerve at the right ankle for 3 different duration of 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours; third session, repeat baseline evaluation after RES. The baseline evaluation include somatosensory evlokec potential study with stimulation of right tibial nerve recorded at abductor hallucis andH reflex. The amplitude of each study were measured and compared between baseline evalution and post-RES evaluation using Kruscal-Wallis test. results: There was no significant change in amplitude of SSEP,CMAP and H reflex between baseline evaluation and post-RES evaluation of 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours. Conclusion: This study suggests that chronic repetitive proprioceptive afferent nerve stimulation could not modulate primary somatosensory cortex in healthy subjects. However, we could not rule out the limitation of sensitivity of sensory evoked potintial study.