The relationship between the size of a muscle afferent volley and the cerebral potential it produces

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between the size of an afferent neural input produced by electrical stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve at the ankle and the size of the early components of the evoked cerebral potential. For five of six subjects the first peak of the afferent neural volley recorded in the popliteal fossa was uncontaminated by either motor efferents or cutaneous afferents. This was established by measuring the conduction times of motor fibres in the posterior tibial nerve and cutaneous fibres in the sural and posterior tibial nerves over the ankle to popliteal fossa segment. It is likely therefore that the first peak of the afferent volley contained predominantly, if not exclusively, activity in rapidly conducting afferents from the small muscles of the foot. The size of the two earliest components of the cerebral potential did not increase in direct proportion to the size of the afferent volley which produced it. The early components of the cerebral potential reached a maximum when the responsible muscle afferent volley was less than 50% of its maximum.