Averaged blink reflex test.
Averaging of blink reflex responses was of particular value in detecting a very small potential of R1 in patients with severe facial nerve palsy where the conventional single stimulation method proved inefficient. To find the most suitable interval of stimulation for averaging, the recovery cycle of R1 was studied. The result showed that the R1 recovery curve could be divided into four phases. The initial facilitation phase at the interval of 5 msec was followed by a brief phase of depression. It was further followed by a second facilitation phase with a maximum of about 60 msec. Lastly the recovery curve returned to almost the 100% level after 100 msec. Due to the second facilitation phase, stimuli given at the interval of 60 msec were efficient for averaging of blink reflex responses. Though R1 to the second stimulus at this interval might have overlapped with R2 to the first stimulus, averaging of responses made R1 more prominent and R2 more inconspicuous, because R1 had a constant latency and R2 a variable one to each stimulus.
D000328:Adult; D001767:Blinking; D004576:Electromyography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans