Abstract
The microneurographic technique allows the researcher to observe and monitor the continuous ongoing neural activity of peripheral nerves in awake human subjects. It enables the study of both multiunit and single neuronal activities in practically all kinds of nerve fibers regardless of size or myelinization. The scientist has the possibility to correlate neuronal activity with peripheral stimuli, vegetative and motoric activity, as well as subjective experience. The technique is a relatively new one (first publication by Hagbarth and Vallbo in 1967), but has already attracted neuroscientists working in many different areas of the nervous system, in both normal and pathological conditions. During the 30 or so years the technique has been available, it has enabled major scientific advances in many of these areas.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aniss AM, Diener HC, Hore J, Burke D, Gandevia SC (1990) Reflex activation of muscle spindles in human pretibial muscles during standing. J Neurophysiol 64: 671–679
Burke D, Hagbarth KE, Löfstedt L, Wallin BG (1976) The responses of human muscle spindle endings to vibration of non-contracting muscles. J Physiol (London) 261: 673–693
Burke D, Hagbarth K-E, Wallin BG (1977) Reflex mechanisms in Parkinsonian rigidity. Scand J Rehabil Med 9: 15–23
Burke D (1997) Unit identification, sampling bias and technical issues in microneurographic recordings from muscle spindle afferents. J Neurosci Methods 74: 137–144
Delius W, Hagbarth K-E, Hongell A, Wallin G (1972) General characteristics of sympathetic activity in human muscle nerves. Acta Physiol Scand 84: 65–81
Edin BB, Vallbo AB (1990) Classification of human muscle stretch receptor afferents; a Bayesian approach. J Neurophysiol 63: 1314–1322
Edin BB (1992) Quantitative analysis of strain sensitivity in human mechanoreceptors from hairy skin. J Neurophysiol. 67: 1105–1113
Gandevia SC, Hales J P (1997) The methodology and scope of human microneurography. J Neurosci Methods 74: 123–136
Gandevia SC, Burke D (1992) Does the nervous system depend on kinesthetic information to control natural limb movements? Behav Brain Sci. 15: 614–632
Goodwin GM, McCloskey DI, Matthews PCB (1972) The contribution of muscle afferents to kinesthesia shown by vibration-induced illusions of movement and by the effect of paralysing joint afferents. Brain 95: 705–748
Hagbarth KE, Vallbo AB (1967) Mechanoreceptor activity recorded percutaneously with semimicroelectrodes in human peripheral nerves. Acta Physiol Scand. 69: 121–122
Hagbarth K-E, Wallin G, Löfstedt L (1973) Muscle spindle responses to stretch in normal and spastic subjects. Scand J Rehabil Med 5: 156–159
Hagbarth K-E (1979) Extereoceptive, proprioceptive, and sympathetic activity recorded with microelectrodes from human peripheral nerves. Mayo Clin Proc 54: 353–365
Hallin RG (1990) Microneurography in relation to intraneural topography: somatotopic organi-sation of median nerve fascicles in humans. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat 53: 736–744
Hallin RG, Torebjörk HE (1974) Single unit sympathetic activity in human skin nerves during rest and various manoeuvres. Acta Physiol Scand 92: 303–317
Hallin RG, Wu G (1998) Protocol for microneurography with concentric needle electrodes. Brain Res Prot 2: 120–132
Inglis JT, Leeper JB, Burke D, Gandevia SC (1996) Morphology of action potentials recorded from human nerves using microneurography. Exp Brain Res 110: 308–314
Jansen RF (1990) The reconstruction of individual spike trains from extracellular multineuron recordings using a neural network emulation program. J Neurosci Methods 35: 203–213
Johansson RS (1976) Skin mechanoreceptors in human hand: receptive field characteristics. In: Zotterman Y (ed) Sensory functions of the skin in primates: With special reference to man. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 475–487
Johansson RS, Vallbo AB (1983) Tactile sensory coding in the glabrous skin of the human hand. Trends Neurosci 6: 27–32
Kreiter AK, Aertsen MHJ, Gerstein GL (1989) A low-cost single-board solution for real-time, unsupervised waveform classification of multineuron recordings. J Neurosci Methods 30: 59–69
Macefield VG, Gandevia SC, Burke D (1990) Perceptual responses to microstimulation of single afferents innervating joints, muscles and skin of the human hand. J Physiol (Lond) 429: 113–129
Macefield VG, Gandevia SC, Bigland-Ritchie B, Gorman RB, Burke D (1993) The firing rates of human motoneurones voluntarily activated in the absence of muscle afferent feedback. J Physiol (Lond) 471: 429–443
Mirfakhraei K, Horch K (1994) Classification of action potentials in multi-unit intrafasicular recordings using neural network pattern recognition techniques. IEEE Transactions Biomed Engin 41: 89–91
Ochoa JL, Torebjörk JR (1983) Sensations evoked by intraneural microstimulation of single mechanoreceptor units innervating the human hand. J Physiol (Lond) 342: 633–654
Ochoa JL, Torebjörk JR (1989) Sensations evoked by intraneural microstimulation of C nociceptor fibers in human skin nerves. J Physiol (Lond) 415: 583–599
Oghalai JS, Street WN, Rhode WS (1994) A neural network-based spike discriminator. J Neurosci Methods 54: 9–22
Ribot E, Roll JP, Vedel JP (1986) Efferent discharges recorded from single skeletomotor and fusimotor fibres in man. J Physiol (London) 375: 251–268
Roll JP, Vedel JP (1982) Kinesthetic role of muscle afferents in man, studied by tendon vibration and microneurography. Exp Brain Res 47: 177–190
Roll JP, Vedel JP, Ribot E (1989) Alteration of proprioceptive messages induced by tendon vibration in man: microneurographic study. Exp Brain Res 76: 213–222
Roll JP, Gilhodes JC (1995) Proprioceptive sensory codes mediating movement trajectory percep-tion: human hand vibration-induced drawing illusions. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 73: 295–304
Rothwell JC, Gandevia SC, Burke D (1990) Activation of fusimotor neurones by motor cortical stimulation in human subjects. J Physiol (Lond) 431: 743–756
Salganicoff M, Sarna M, Sax L, Gerstein GL (1988) Unsupervised waveform classification for multi-neuron recordings: a real-time, software-based system. Algorithms and implementation. J Neurosci Methods 25: 181–187
Schmidt EM (1984a) Instruments for sorting neuroelectric data: a review. J Neurosci Methods 12: 1–24
Schmidt EM (1984b) Computer separation of multi-unit neuroelectric data: a review. J Neurosci Methods 12: 95–111
Sundlof G, Wallin BG (1978) Human muscle nerve sympathetic activity at rest: Relationship to blood pressure and age. J Physiol (Lond) 274: 621–637
Szumski AJ, Burg D, Struppler A, Velho F (1974) Activity of musde spindles during muscle twitch and clonus in normal and spastic human subjects. Electroencephal Clin Neurophysiol 37: 589–597
Torebjörk, HE, Hallin, RG (1976) Skin receptors supplied by unmyelinated (C) fibres in man. In: Zotterman Y (eds) Sensory functions of the skin in primates: With special reference to man. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 475–487
Vallbo AB, Johansson RS (1984) Properties of cutaneous mechanoreceptors in the human hand related to touch sensation. Human Neurobiol 3: 3–14
Wallin BG, Konig U. (1976) Changes of skin nerve sympathetic activity during induction of general anesthesia with thiopentone in man. Brain Res 103: 157–160
Öhberg F, Johansson H, Bergenheim M, Pedersen J. Djupsjöbacka M (1995) A neural network approach to real-time spike discrimination during simultaneous recording from several multiunit nerve filaments. J Neurosc Methods 64: 181–187
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bergenheim, M., Roll, JP., Ribot-Ciscar, E. (1999). Microneurography in Humans. In: Windhorst, U., Johansson, H. (eds) Modern Techniques in Neuroscience Research. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-58552-4_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-58552-4_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-63643-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-58552-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive