title: Blink reflex: comparison of latency measurements in different human races.
abstract: The blink reflex latencies and cephalometric indexes were analysed in 30 male volunteers from three different races, 10 white, 10 black, and 10 Oriental. Ages ranged from 15 to 59 years, height from 1,60 to 1,80 m, and weight from 60 to 80 kg. Blink reflexes were obtained after unilateral electric stimulation of the supraorbital nerve for quantitative analysis of 3 responses, early ipsilateral (R1), late ipsilateral (R2i) and late contralateral (R2c), obtained from the orbicularis oculi muscle. Cephalometric indexes were calculated by multiplying the ratio between the longer transverse and the longer saggital head diameters by 100. The R1, R2i and R2c latencies were consistent with other published papers revealing no differences between the different racial groups. The mean of the cephalometric indexes of each group were consistent with respective racial characteristics. This study revealed that there are no differences between R1, R2i and R2c latencies in the 3 different studied races.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo Andre Teixeira
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Kimaid
authors.forename: Luiz Antonio Lima
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Resende
authors.forename: Heloisa Amélia de Lima
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berzin
authors.forename: Amilton Antunes
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Barreira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D044466:Asian People; D044383:Black People; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000208:ethnology; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D044465:White People