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May 1965, Vol 12, No. 5 >
Article | May 1965

Low Threshold Associated With Slow Conduction Velocity: Title and subTitle BreakStudies of Human Motor Axons

ROBERT HODES, PhD; IRWIN GRIBETZ, MD; JOEL A. MOSKOWITZ, MD; IRVING H. WAGMAN, PhD
[+] Author Affiliations

Submitted for publication Nov 16, 1964; accepted Jan 20, 1965.

Mount Sinai Hospital, Department of Pediatrics (Drs. Hodes, Gribetz, and Moskowitz); University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, Biomechanics Laboratory (Dr. Wagman).

Reprint requests to 11 E 100th St, New York, NY 10029 (Dr. Hodes).


Arch Neurol. 1965;12(5):510-526. doi:10.1001/archneur.1965.00460290066008
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Introduction  TEXTBOOKS of physiology and monographs on axonology state, explicitly or implicitly, that nerve fibers of large diameter (and rapid conduction velocity) are more excitable than smaller ones. This statement is not open to question when applied, for example, to threshold differences between A and C fibers, or even between A-α and Aγ axons. The concept of size-determination of excitability appears to have become so generalized, however, that if one fiber is larger than another it is assumed ipso facto to have a lower threshold to electrical stimulation.In this paper we shall show that this concept is not true in the case of a small bundle of motor axons of homogeneous function, in which the constituent fibers are fairly similar in respect to conduction velocity. We have found thresholds for skeletomotor fibers of the human upper and lower extremities to be lower for fibers of slow conduction velocity

REFERENCES

1 +
A preliminary account of this work has been published.15
2 +
Blair, E. A., and Erlanger, J.:  Comparison of Characteristics of Axons Through Their Individual Electrical Responses , Amer J Physiol 106:524-564, 1933;.
3 +
Blair, E. A., and Erlanger, J.:  On Process of Excitation by Brief Shocks in Axons , Amer J Physiol 114:309-316, 1935;.
4 +
Denny-Brown, D., and Pennybacker, J. B.:  Fibrillation and Fasciculation in Voluntary Muscle , Brain 61:311-334, 1938;.
5 +
Easton, D. M.:  Excitability Related to Spike Size in Crab Nerve Fibers , J Cell Comp Physiol 40:303-315, 1952;.
6 +
Eccles, J. C., and Sherrington, C. S.:  Numbers and Contraction-Values of Individual Motor-Units Examined in Some Muscles of Limb , Proc Roy Soc B106:326-357, 1930;.
7 +
Erlanger, J., and Gasser, H. S.: Electrical Signs of Nervous Activity , Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1937;, 221 pp.
8 +
Gardner, E.:  Conduction Rates and Dorsal Root Inflow of Sensory Fibers From Knee Joint of Cat , Amer J Physiol 152:436-445, 1948;.
9 +
Gasser, H. S., and Grundfest, H.:  Axon Diameters in Relation to Spike Dimensions and Conduction Velocity in Mammalian A Fibers , Amer J Physiol 127:393-414, 1939;.
10 +
Henriksen, J. D.: Conduction Velocity of Motor Nerves in Normal Subjects and Patients With Neuromuscular Disorders, Thesis, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1956.
11 +
Hodes, R.:  Linear Relationship Between Fiber Diameter and Velocity of Conduction in Giant Axon of Squid , J Neurophysiol 16:145-154, 1953;.
12 +
Hodes, R.:  Simplified Method for Determining Maximal Conduction Velocity of Human Motor Axons , Amer J Phys Med , to be published, 1965;.
13 +
Hodes, R., and Gribetz, I.:  H-reflexes in Normal Human Infants: Depression of These Electrically Induced Reflexes (EIR's) in Sleep , Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 110:577-580, 1962;.
14 +
Hodes, R., and Gribetz, I.:  Normal Electrically Induced Reflexes ("H reflexes") in a 2-Week-Old Infant with Acrania and Cerebral Dysgenesis , Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 15:1033-1036, 1963;.
15 +
Hodes, R.; Gribetz, I.; and Hodes, H. L.:  Abnormal Occurrence of Ulnar Nerve-Hypothenar Muscle H-reflex in Sydenham's Chorea , Pediatrics 30:49-56, 1962;.
16 +
Hodes, R.; Gribetz, I.; Moskowitz, J. A.; and Wagman, I. H.:  Excitation of Motor Axons With Slowest Conduction Velocity by Weakest Percutaneous Electrical Stimulation of Human Nerve Trunks , Trans Amer Neurol Assoc , to be published, 1965;.
17 +
Hodes, R.; Larrabee, M. G.; and German, W.:  Human Electromyogram in Response to Nerve Stimulation and the Conduction Velocity of Motor Axons: Studies on Normal and on Injured Peripheral Nerves , Arch Neurol Psychiat 60:340-365, 1948;.
18 +
Hopf, H. C.:  Untersuchungen über die Unterschiede in der Leitgeschwindigkeit motorischer Nervenfasern beim Menschen , Deutsch Z Nervenheilk 183:579-588, 1962;.
19 +
Hopf, H. C.:  Electromyographic Study on SoCalled Mononeuritis , Arch Neurol 9:307-312, 1963;.
20 +
Katsuki, Y.; Chen, J.; and Takeda, H.:  Fundamental Neural Mechanism of Sense Organ , Bull Tokyo Med Dental Univ 1:21-31, 1954;.
21 +
Kugelberg, E.:  Accommodation in Human Nerves , Acta Physiol Scand 8 ( (suppl 24) ):1-105, 1944;.
22 +
Kugelberg, E., and Skoglund, C. R.:  Responses of Single Human Motor Units to Electrical Stimulation , J Neurophysiol 9:391-398, 1946;.
23 +
Kugelberg, E., and Skoglund, C. R.:  Natural and Artificial Activation of Motor Units: Comparison , J Neurophysiol 9:399-412, 1946;.
24 +
Kugelberg, E., and Taverner, D.:  Comparison Between Voluntary and Electrical Activation of Motor Units in Anterior Horn Cell Diseases on "Central Synchronization" of Motor Units , Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 2:125-132, 1950;.
25 +
Lehmann, J. E.:  Effect of Asphyxia on Mammalian A Nerve Fibers , Amer J Physiol 119:111-120, 1937;.
26 +
Liao, S. J.:  Role of Stimulus Threshold in Conduction Studies of Injured Motor Nerves in Continuity , Amer J Phys Med 42:89-95, 1963;.
27 +
Magladery, J. W., and McDougal, D. B., Jr.:  Electrophysiological Studies of Nerve and Reflex Activity in Normal Man: I. Identification of Certain Reflexes in Electromyogram and Conduction Velocity of Peripheral Nerve Fibres , Bull Hopkins Hosp 86:265-290, 1950;.
28 +
McPhedran, A. M.; Wuerker, R. B.; and Henneman, E.:  Tensions of Single Motor Units in Cat Muscles , Fed Proc 22:279, 1963;.
29 +
Norris, F. N., Jr., and Gasteiger, E. L.:  Action Potentials of Single Motor Units in Normal Muscle , Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 7:115-126, 1955;.
30 +
Pierce, D. S., and Wagman, I. H.:  Method of Recording From Single Muscle Fibers or Motor Units in Human Skeletal Muscle , J Appl Physiol 19:366-368, 1964;.
31 +
Preswick, G.:  Effect of Stimulus Intensity on Motor Latency in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome , J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat 26:398-401, 1963;.
32 +
Skoglund, C. R.:  Response to Linearly Increasing Currents in Mammalian Motor and Sensory Nerves , Acta Physiol Scand 4 ( (suppl 12) ):1-75, 1942;.
33 +
Smith, O. C.:  Action Potentials From Single Motor Units in Voluntary Contraction , Amer J Physiol 108:629-638, 1934;.
34 +
Somjen, G.; Carpenter, D.; and Henneman, E.:  Precise Correlation Between Sizes of Motor Neurons and Their Reflex Excitabilities , Fer Proc 23:111, 1964;.
35 +
Tasaki, I.:  Threshold Conditions in Electrical Excitation of Nerve Fiber: Part II , Cytologia 15:219-236, 1950;.
36 +
Tasaki, I.: Nervous Transmission , Springfield: Charles C Thomas, Publisher, 1953;, 164 pp.
37 +
Tasaki, I.; Ishii, K.; and Ito, H.:  On Relation Between Conduction-Rate, Fibre-Diameter and Internodal Distance of Medullated Nerve Fibre, Jap J Med Sci , III Biophysics 9:189-199, 1944;.
38 +
Thomas, J. E., and Lambert, E. H.:  Ulnar Nerve Conduction Velocity and H-Reflex in Infants and Children , J Appl Physiol 15:1-9, 1960;.
39 +
Thomas, P. K.:  Motor Nerve Conduction in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome , Neurology 10:1045-1050, 1960;.
40 +
Thomas, P. K.; Sears, T. A.; and Gilliatt, R. W.:  Range of Conduction Velocity in Normal Nerve Fibres to Small Muscles of Hand and Foot , J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat 22:175-181, 1959;.
41 +
van Harrevald, A., and Wiersma, C. A. G.:  Double Motor Innervation of Adductor Muscle in Claw of Crayfish , J Physiol 88:78-99, 1936;.
42 +
Willison, R. G.: Conduction Velocity of Nerve Action Potentials in Man, Copenhagen: Abstracts of the International EMG Meeting, 1963, pp 14-16.
43 +
Wright, E. B., and Coleman, P. D.:  Excitation and Conduction in Crustacean Single Motor Axons , J Cell Comp Physiol 43:133-164, 1954;.

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Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

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1 +
A preliminary account of this work has been published.15
2 +
Blair, E. A., and Erlanger, J.:  Comparison of Characteristics of Axons Through Their Individual Electrical Responses , Amer J Physiol 106:524-564, 1933;.
3 +
Blair, E. A., and Erlanger, J.:  On Process of Excitation by Brief Shocks in Axons , Amer J Physiol 114:309-316, 1935;.
4 +
Denny-Brown, D., and Pennybacker, J. B.:  Fibrillation and Fasciculation in Voluntary Muscle , Brain 61:311-334, 1938;.
5 +
Easton, D. M.:  Excitability Related to Spike Size in Crab Nerve Fibers , J Cell Comp Physiol 40:303-315, 1952;.
6 +
Eccles, J. C., and Sherrington, C. S.:  Numbers and Contraction-Values of Individual Motor-Units Examined in Some Muscles of Limb , Proc Roy Soc B106:326-357, 1930;.
7 +
Erlanger, J., and Gasser, H. S.: Electrical Signs of Nervous Activity , Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1937;, 221 pp.
8 +
Gardner, E.:  Conduction Rates and Dorsal Root Inflow of Sensory Fibers From Knee Joint of Cat , Amer J Physiol 152:436-445, 1948;.
9 +
Gasser, H. S., and Grundfest, H.:  Axon Diameters in Relation to Spike Dimensions and Conduction Velocity in Mammalian A Fibers , Amer J Physiol 127:393-414, 1939;.
10 +
Henriksen, J. D.: Conduction Velocity of Motor Nerves in Normal Subjects and Patients With Neuromuscular Disorders, Thesis, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1956.
11 +
Hodes, R.:  Linear Relationship Between Fiber Diameter and Velocity of Conduction in Giant Axon of Squid , J Neurophysiol 16:145-154, 1953;.
12 +
Hodes, R.:  Simplified Method for Determining Maximal Conduction Velocity of Human Motor Axons , Amer J Phys Med , to be published, 1965;.
13 +
Hodes, R., and Gribetz, I.:  H-reflexes in Normal Human Infants: Depression of These Electrically Induced Reflexes (EIR's) in Sleep , Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 110:577-580, 1962;.
14 +
Hodes, R., and Gribetz, I.:  Normal Electrically Induced Reflexes ("H reflexes") in a 2-Week-Old Infant with Acrania and Cerebral Dysgenesis , Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 15:1033-1036, 1963;.
15 +
Hodes, R.; Gribetz, I.; and Hodes, H. L.:  Abnormal Occurrence of Ulnar Nerve-Hypothenar Muscle H-reflex in Sydenham's Chorea , Pediatrics 30:49-56, 1962;.
16 +
Hodes, R.; Gribetz, I.; Moskowitz, J. A.; and Wagman, I. H.:  Excitation of Motor Axons With Slowest Conduction Velocity by Weakest Percutaneous Electrical Stimulation of Human Nerve Trunks , Trans Amer Neurol Assoc , to be published, 1965;.
17 +
Hodes, R.; Larrabee, M. G.; and German, W.:  Human Electromyogram in Response to Nerve Stimulation and the Conduction Velocity of Motor Axons: Studies on Normal and on Injured Peripheral Nerves , Arch Neurol Psychiat 60:340-365, 1948;.
18 +
Hopf, H. C.:  Untersuchungen über die Unterschiede in der Leitgeschwindigkeit motorischer Nervenfasern beim Menschen , Deutsch Z Nervenheilk 183:579-588, 1962;.
19 +
Hopf, H. C.:  Electromyographic Study on SoCalled Mononeuritis , Arch Neurol 9:307-312, 1963;.
20 +
Katsuki, Y.; Chen, J.; and Takeda, H.:  Fundamental Neural Mechanism of Sense Organ , Bull Tokyo Med Dental Univ 1:21-31, 1954;.
21 +
Kugelberg, E.:  Accommodation in Human Nerves , Acta Physiol Scand 8 ( (suppl 24) ):1-105, 1944;.
22 +
Kugelberg, E., and Skoglund, C. R.:  Responses of Single Human Motor Units to Electrical Stimulation , J Neurophysiol 9:391-398, 1946;.
23 +
Kugelberg, E., and Skoglund, C. R.:  Natural and Artificial Activation of Motor Units: Comparison , J Neurophysiol 9:399-412, 1946;.
24 +
Kugelberg, E., and Taverner, D.:  Comparison Between Voluntary and Electrical Activation of Motor Units in Anterior Horn Cell Diseases on "Central Synchronization" of Motor Units , Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 2:125-132, 1950;.
25 +
Lehmann, J. E.:  Effect of Asphyxia on Mammalian A Nerve Fibers , Amer J Physiol 119:111-120, 1937;.
26 +
Liao, S. J.:  Role of Stimulus Threshold in Conduction Studies of Injured Motor Nerves in Continuity , Amer J Phys Med 42:89-95, 1963;.
27 +
Magladery, J. W., and McDougal, D. B., Jr.:  Electrophysiological Studies of Nerve and Reflex Activity in Normal Man: I. Identification of Certain Reflexes in Electromyogram and Conduction Velocity of Peripheral Nerve Fibres , Bull Hopkins Hosp 86:265-290, 1950;.
28 +
McPhedran, A. M.; Wuerker, R. B.; and Henneman, E.:  Tensions of Single Motor Units in Cat Muscles , Fed Proc 22:279, 1963;.
29 +
Norris, F. N., Jr., and Gasteiger, E. L.:  Action Potentials of Single Motor Units in Normal Muscle , Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 7:115-126, 1955;.
30 +
Pierce, D. S., and Wagman, I. H.:  Method of Recording From Single Muscle Fibers or Motor Units in Human Skeletal Muscle , J Appl Physiol 19:366-368, 1964;.
31 +
Preswick, G.:  Effect of Stimulus Intensity on Motor Latency in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome , J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat 26:398-401, 1963;.
32 +
Skoglund, C. R.:  Response to Linearly Increasing Currents in Mammalian Motor and Sensory Nerves , Acta Physiol Scand 4 ( (suppl 12) ):1-75, 1942;.
33 +
Smith, O. C.:  Action Potentials From Single Motor Units in Voluntary Contraction , Amer J Physiol 108:629-638, 1934;.
34 +
Somjen, G.; Carpenter, D.; and Henneman, E.:  Precise Correlation Between Sizes of Motor Neurons and Their Reflex Excitabilities , Fer Proc 23:111, 1964;.
35 +
Tasaki, I.:  Threshold Conditions in Electrical Excitation of Nerve Fiber: Part II , Cytologia 15:219-236, 1950;.
36 +
Tasaki, I.: Nervous Transmission , Springfield: Charles C Thomas, Publisher, 1953;, 164 pp.
37 +
Tasaki, I.; Ishii, K.; and Ito, H.:  On Relation Between Conduction-Rate, Fibre-Diameter and Internodal Distance of Medullated Nerve Fibre, Jap J Med Sci , III Biophysics 9:189-199, 1944;.
38 +
Thomas, J. E., and Lambert, E. H.:  Ulnar Nerve Conduction Velocity and H-Reflex in Infants and Children , J Appl Physiol 15:1-9, 1960;.
39 +
Thomas, P. K.:  Motor Nerve Conduction in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome , Neurology 10:1045-1050, 1960;.
40 +
Thomas, P. K.; Sears, T. A.; and Gilliatt, R. W.:  Range of Conduction Velocity in Normal Nerve Fibres to Small Muscles of Hand and Foot , J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat 22:175-181, 1959;.
41 +
van Harrevald, A., and Wiersma, C. A. G.:  Double Motor Innervation of Adductor Muscle in Claw of Crayfish , J Physiol 88:78-99, 1936;.
42 +
Willison, R. G.: Conduction Velocity of Nerve Action Potentials in Man, Copenhagen: Abstracts of the International EMG Meeting, 1963, pp 14-16.
43 +
Wright, E. B., and Coleman, P. D.:  Excitation and Conduction in Crustacean Single Motor Axons , J Cell Comp Physiol 43:133-164, 1954;.

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