Chapter 21 Functional changes in cortical components of somatosensory evoked responses by stimulus repetition

Abstract

This chapter studies the recovery function (RF) of somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and somatosensory evoked magnetic field (SEF) using very short interstimulus intervals (ISIs) to investigate the possible functional relationship between components of evoked responses. The functional mechanism of the RF is also discussed in the second experiment of repetitive stimulation evoked SEF. The chapter recognizes attenuation of the SEF components in terms of amplitude following the second stimuli train but no waning or waxing of the response is recognized between the third and sixth stimuli, and the pattern of attenuation differed among the SEF components. The functional refractoriness of the neuron might partially relate to the synaptic ability to respond to high-frequency stimulation, and that SEP change during repetitive stimulation with a very short ISI would give information on the synaptic factor of the central nervous system.