Readiness potentials recorded from the scalp and depth leads.

Abstract

Readiness potentials on voluntary hand movements were recorded from the scalp (C3, C4), premotor cortex, subcortical white matter and VL nucleus of the thalamus. Subjects were healthy right-handed men and patients with involuntary movement disorders. We obtained a slow negative shift of brain electrical potentials from the scalp and cortex preceding voluntary hand movements. The mean time interval between the onset of the readiness potential and the onset of motor activity (mean T) was 0.8 sec on right hand movements and 1.0 sec on left hand movements in healthy men. In cases with parkinsonism, the mean T value was 1.4 sec in patients with akinesia, 1.1 sec in those without akinesia. The amplitude of readiness potentials was higher in the scalp contralateral to the hand movement. The readiness potentials recorded from the VL nucleus and white matter were reversed in polarity from those of scalp and cortex. Simultaneous recordings from cortex and VL nucleus showed early onset of readiness potentials from the cortex by approximately 0.1 sec compared with the VL nucleus.