Electroneurogram

Electroneurogram
An electroneurogram (ENG) is a method used to
visualize directly recorded electrical activity of
neurons in the central nervous system (brain,
spinal cord) or the peripheral nervous system
(nerves, ganglions).
An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a particular
type of electroneurogram in which several
electrodes are placed around the head and the
general activity of the brain is recorded, without
having very high resolution to distinguish between
the activity of different groups of neurons.

Electroneurogram
The electrical activity generated by neurons
is recorded by the electrode and transmitted
to an acquisition system, which usually allows
to visualize the activity of the neuron.
Each vertical line in an electroneurogram
represents one neuronal action potential.
Depending on the precision of the electrode
used to record neural activity, an
electroneurogram can contain the activity of a
single neuron to thousands of neurons.

Electroneurogram activity

Schematic of recording setup, with an electrode recording electroneurogram activity from a motor
neuron located in L2.
lower traces are rectified and integrated

Nature 440, 215-219 (9 March 2006)

Conduction of impulse along the

nervous fiber
Characteristics:
Anatomical and physiological integrity
Isolated propagation
Conduct in a non-decremental fashion
Bidirectional propagation
Relative indefatigability

Nerve conduction study

A nerve conduction study (NCS) is a test
commonly used to evaluate the function,
especially the ability of electrical conduction, of the
motor and sensory nerves of the human body.
The nerve conduction study consists of the
following components:
Motor NCS
Sensory NCS
F-wave study
H-reflex study

Hoffman-Reflex (H-reflex)

The H-reflex is the electrical equivalent of the monosynaptic stretch reflex and is normally
obtained in only a few muscles.

It is elicited by selectively stimulating the sensory (Ia) fibres of the posterior tibial or median nerve.
The stimulus travels along the Ia fibers, through the dorsal root ganglion, and is transmitted across
the central synapse to the anterior horn cell which fires it down along the alpha motor axon to the
muscle.

The H-reflex test is performed using an electric stimulator. The response is usually a clear wave,
called H-wave,

As the stimulus increases, the amplitude of the M-wave increases, and the H-wave decreases,
and at supramaximal stimulus, the H-wave will disappear.

H-Reflex flexes its muscles!

In 2001 and 2002, Dr. Douglas Watt of McGill
University in Montreal studied how the human
body adapts to weightlessness through his HReflex experiment.
But how does zero gravity affect an astronaut's
body? In the weightless space environment,
astronauts simply float rather than walk or sit as
we do on Earth, and they stop using their body's
structure to support themselves. After a few
weeks, their muscles and bones undergo changes
that affect strength, posture and balance.

H-Reflex flexes its muscles!

Dr. Watt and other experts think that one way the
human spinal cord adapts to microgravity is by
responding less and less to stimulation. To
compensate for this, more signals from the brain are
then needed to stimulate muscles to exert the same
effort as they would on Earth. If this hypothesis is
correct, the longer the astronaut remains in space, the
less effective his or her exercise routines will be. The
experiment H-Reflex was designed to test this theory.
"The results so far indicate that the excitability of the
spinal cord falls off quite quickly in zero gravity, and
remains reduced as long as the astronauts are in
space. It then recovers within 10 days of landing," Dr.
Watt says.
(Courtesy of NASA)

H-reflex
Upper extremity: Flexor carpi radialis H reflex
Most easily obtainable H-reflex in upper extremity
Elicited by: Median nerve stimulation in antecubital
fossa
Record over: Flexor carpi radialis muscle
Abnormal in
Radiculopathies: C6 & C7
Proximal median nerve lesions
Brachial plexus lesions

Lower extremity: Posterior tibial H-reflex

Elicited by: Tibial nerve stimulation in popliteal fossa
Record over: Soleus muscle