Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the human motor cortex allows investigation of central motor pathways. Latencies of muscle action potentials evoked by cortical stimulation represent total motor conduction time from the cortex to the target muscle. The central motor conduction time (CMCT) can be calculated by subtracting the peripheral motor latency after stimulation of spinal motor roots from the total motor conduction time. CMCT has proved to be a valuable diagnostic aid in various diseases. Prolonged CMCT has been observed in multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and in hereditary ataxias1. As far as spinal cord disorders are concerned, there exist reports about traumatic lesions as well as syringomyelia. Cervical spondylosis has been studied by several authors 2, 3. In general, however, motor conduction was measured to upper limbs only. In the present study CMCT was investigated to upper as well as lower extremities.
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Claus, D., Brunhölzl, C.B., Weis, M., Jaspert, A., Bianchi, E. (1994). Central motor conduction time to upper versus lower extremities. In: Jones, S.J., Hetreed, M., Boyd, S., Smith, N.J. (eds) Handbook of Spinal Cord Monitoring. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1416-5_37
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1416-5_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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