title: The head stabilization reflex by stimulation of accessory nerve.
abstract: The head stabilization reflex (HSR) was described by a new technique of stimulating the accessory nerve and then the reflex muscle responses' were recorded electromyographically from the contralateral sternocleidomastoid muscle. Thirty-two normal control subjects and 22 patients with various neurological disorders were studied. The HSR obtained from the contralateral sternocleidomastoid muscle was very stable with a mean latency of about 45 ms and was regularly obtained by the supramaximal stimulation of the ipsilateral accessory nerve from the normal subjects. The HSR was absent in 9 out 11 patients with cerebellar syndrome. The HSR seemed to be a oligo-polysynaptic/plurosegmental reflex under the strong control of the cerebellum.
authors.affiliation: Ege University Medical School Hospital, Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. burhanu@med.ege.edu.tr
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Uludag
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ertekin
mesh_terms: D000055:Accessory Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology*