Postfacial palsy phenomena: faulty nerve regeneration or ephaptic transmission?

Abstract

Certain postfacial palsy phenomena--'facial contracture', 'crocodile tears', etc.--have been examined in relation to faulty misrouting of the nerve fibers, which thus far has been offered as an explanation for such phenomena. Analogy is made with the problem of hemifacial spasm, occurring without antecedant facial palsy. It is seen that the two conditions have many things in common and are amenable to similar methods of therapy--such as surgical decompression of the facial nerve without interrupting its fibers or by pharmacological blocking of the facial nerve. Evidence is presented to support the thesis that both the hemifacial spasm and the postfacial palsy phenomena (and a number of other neurological disorders) are due to formation of an 'artificial synapse' (an ephapse) at the site of nerve injury. This would allow for crossing over of impulses from one nerve fiber to another and interaction between afferent and efferent axons, analogous to the situation of bare, uninsulated electrical wires plac