title: Capsaicin effects on blinking.
abstract: Blinking is a normal human phenomenon involving trigeminal and facial pathways. To gain understanding on the neurobiology of blinking, five normal subjects were investigated before and after application of transdermal capsaicin at the forehead for two weeks. No effects of topical capsaicin were detected in eye blink rates. However, when capsaicin was applied to a female subject with blepharospasm, she showed a dramatic restoration of her vision subsequent to blinking modification. Deactivation of abnormal A-to-C fibers cross talks at the trigeminal-facial pathways seems to be the most likely mechanism of such improvement.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neurología Clínica y Funcional, Neurociencias Aplicadas & Neurobiología Humana, Facultad de Salud, Universidad de Pamplona, Pamplona, Colombia. feleoness@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Fidias E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Leon-Sarmiento
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bayona-Prieto
authors.forename: Marta E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Leon-S
mesh_terms: D001764:Blepharospasm / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001767:Blinking / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004421:Dystonia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D002211:Capsaicin