Microneurography in relation to intraneural topography: somatotopic organisation of median nerve fascicles in humans
Open accessAbstract
Microneurography was performed in median nerve sensory fascicles with concentric needle electrodes and with conventional tungsten microneedles. The latter electrodes preferentially recorded activity from the myelinated fibres in the whole fascicle. By contrast, due to its special design, a concentric needle can record activity selectively from even a small part of a fascicle. High amplitude signals in C fibres can be discriminated close to Schwann cells that envelope unmyelinated axons. Apart from being biased for activity in thin fibres, the concentric needles can also record signals from nearby myelinated fibres. The palmar receptive fields of such fibre groups were not congruent with the areas traditionally attributed to multiunit skin afferents in humans, namely the innervation zone(s) of one or two adjacent digital nerve(s). Instead, the multiunit fields often comprised small parts of a digital nerve innervation area, frequently only the pulp of a finger. Single units were always localised within previously screened multiunit areas. Contrary to some previously accepted tenets it is probable that single unit activity in myelinated fibres in these studies is recorded extra-axonally near to a node of Ranvier. The findings also suggest the presence of a somatotopy in human limb nerve fascicles, comparable to that previously established in the spinal cord and the somatosensory cortex.
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Fascicles contain groupings of nerve fibers organized somatotopically.
“Fascicles contain groupings of nerve fibers that are organized somatotopically [24].”
From Fascicle specific targeting for selective peripheral nerve stimulation (2019) · cites this paper as [24]
Intrafascicular stimulation has been used for many years to study the function and organization of fibers within peripheral nerve.
“Intrafascicular stimulation has been used for many years to study the function and organization of fibers within peripheral nerve [24,34].”
From Fascicle specific targeting for selective peripheral nerve stimulation (2019) · cites this paper as [24]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Hallin, R. G.
- Corresponding author
- Hallin, R G
- Venue
- Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 1990-09-01
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 736-744
- ISSN
- 0022-3050 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC1014249
- OpenAlex
- W2057869819
- Semantic Scholar
- addbcf598c99246255df13458c85ba7bc048c14d
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 1.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Peripheral Nerve Disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Muscle activation and electromyography studies
- Keywords
- median nerve, somatotopic organization, concentric needle electrode, myelinated axons, Schwann cells, single-unit activity, nodes of Ranvier
- MeSH terms
- Adrenergic Fibers, Adult, Electric Stimulation, Electrodiagnosis, Evoked Potentials, Female, Fingers, Humans, Male, Median Nerve, Microelectrodes, Nerve Fibers, Myelinated, Neurons, Sensory Receptor Cells
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