title: Conduction velocity of the spinothalamic tract in humans as assessed by CO(2) laser stimulation of C-fibers.
abstract: We measured the conduction velocity (CV) of C-fibers in the spinothalamic tract (STT) following stimulation with a CO(2) laser using a new method. We delivered non-painful laser pulses to tiny areas of the skin overlying the vertebral spinous processes at different levels from the 7(th) cervical (C7) to the 12(th) thoracic (T12), and recorded cerebral evoked potentials in 11 healthy men. We used the term "ultra-late laser evoked potentials" (ultra-late LEPs), since the peak latency was much longer than that for conventional LEPs related to Adelta-fibers following painful laser stimulation (late LEPs). The mean CV of C-fibers in the STT was 2.2+/-0.6 m/s, which was significantly lower than the CV of the Adelta-fibers (10.0+/-4.5 m/s). This technique is novel and simple, and should be useful as a diagnostic tool for assessing the level of spinal cord lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Myodaiji Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan. yhqiu@nips.ac.jp
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inui
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kakigi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D010146:Pain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation / Q000528:radiation effects; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013133:Spinothalamic Tracts / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae