Intrafascicular recordings of afferent multi‐unit activity from the human supraorbital nerve

Abstract

Intrafascicular recordings of afferent multi-unit activity were obtained from the supraorbital nerve in 40 healthy human volunteers, using tungsten micro-electrodes inserted percutaneously at the eyebrow. Seventy-seven fascicular receptive fields were mapped; their area ranged from 2 to 76 cm2, with a median of 19 cm2. The smallest fields were found in the eyebrow region, and the largest on the scalp. In response to non-painful electrical intradermal stimulation, the conduction velocity of the fastest nerve fibres was calculated to be 40 +/- 2 m s-1 (mean +/- SEM), and the later part of the afferent volley corresponded to a velocity of 20 +/- 1 m s-1. The responses to skin indentation indicated that the density of mechanoreceptive innervation was higher in the lower part of the forehead than in the upper/posterior part of the innervation territory of the nerve. A rapid mechanical tap on the forehead and scalp evoked two major afferent volleys corresponding to the on- and off-phase of the stimulus. Manipulation of hairs resulted not only in dynamic responses to hair movement, but also in a static discharge during sustained hair displacement. When a fascicular field included the eyebrow region, skin stretching during blinking movements evoked distinct afferent activity. Following mechanical and electrical stimuli there were no signs of 'trigeminal antidromic potentials' of the type described in the cat and monkey.