Fundamental principles of somatosensory evoked potentials.
Studies of SSEP provide unique opportunities for investigating physioanatomic substrates of sensory pathway and cognitive functions of the sensory system. Progress of clinical investigation and application of SSEP have been stalled in more recent years, although SSEP still remain a useful tool for diagnosis of various neurologic disorders and for the monitoring of spinal cord function during surgery. Reflecting complex sensory system in human, scalp-recorded SSEP consists of multiple waves, having different distribution, amplitude, and latencies among different electrodes. The physioanatomic significance of these multiple waves, especially the late components, is largely unknown. These should be explored further, especially in relation to cognitive function.
Yamada
Thoru
T
Division of Clinical Electrophysiology, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, 0181 Carver Pavilion, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. thoru-yamada@uiowa.edu
Yeh
Malcolm
M
Kimura
Jun
J
D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D012535:Scalp / Q000502:physiology; D013131:Spine / Q000502:physiology; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000502:physiology