Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1990 Jun;425:283–299. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1990.sp018103

Corticospinal volleys evoked by anodal and cathodal stimulation of the human motor cortex.

D Burke 1, R G Hicks 1, J P Stephen 1
PMCID: PMC1189848  PMID: 2213580

Abstract

1. In fifteen neurologically normal subjects, corticospinal volleys evoked by transcranial stimulation of the motor cortex were recorded from the spinal cord using epidural electrodes in the high-thoracic and low-thoracic regions during surgery to correct scoliosis. 2. Anodal stimulation at the vertex produced complex corticospinal volleys that could be recorded at both sites, with multiple waves analogous to the D and I waves documented in animal experiments. These volleys were of higher amplitude when the cathode was 7 cm lateral to the vertex rather than 7 cm anterior. There were no differences in conduction time between the two recording sites for D and I waves, when these waves could be identified at the low-thoracic site. 3. Anodal stimuli of 150 V commonly produced a descending volley containing a single peak at both recording sites. Modest increases in stimulus intensity to 225-375 V produced a peak 0.8 ms in advance of the wave of lowest threshold in thirteen subjects and, in seven subjects, further increases produced an additional peak 1.7 ms in advance of the first-recruited wave. The early peaks increased in size with stimulus intensity, replacing the first-recruited wave. These results suggest that the site of impulse initiation with electrical stimulation of the motor cortex shifts from superficial cortex to deep structures, approximately 5 and 10-11 cm below the cortex. These sites are probably the internal capsule and the cerebral peduncle. 4. With cathode at the vertex and anode over the 'hand area' the response of lowest threshold occurred at the latency of the anodal D wave but could not be recorded at the low-thoracic site, suggesting that it was generated by the anode over the 'hand area'. Slightly higher intensities induced a 'cathodal D wave' and still higher intensities produced late peaks at latencies of anodal I waves. These cathodal D and I waves involved axons innervating lumbar segments. There was no evidence that cathodal stimulation preferentially produced I waves. Cathodal stimulation at the vertex with the anode 7 cm anteriorly produced similar results: D waves were produced at relatively low intensities, but I waves appeared at relatively high stimulus intensities if at all.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Full text

PDF
299

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amassian V. E., Stewart M., Quirk G. J., Rosenthal J. L. Physiological basis of motor effects of a transient stimulus to cerebral cortex. Neurosurgery. 1987 Jan;20(1):74–93. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Day B. L., Dressler D., Maertens de Noordhout A., Marsden C. D., Nakashima K., Rothwell J. C., Thompson P. D. Electric and magnetic stimulation of human motor cortex: surface EMG and single motor unit responses. J Physiol. 1989 May;412:449–473. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1989.sp017626. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Day B. L., Rothwell J. C., Thompson P. D., Dick J. P., Cowan J. M., Berardelli A., Marsden C. D. Motor cortex stimulation in intact man. 2. Multiple descending volleys. Brain. 1987 Oct;110(Pt 5):1191–1209. doi: 10.1093/brain/110.5.1191. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gandevia S. C., Rothwell J. C. Activation of the human diaphragm from the motor cortex. J Physiol. 1987 Mar;384:109–118. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1987.sp016445. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. HERN J. E., LANDGREN S., PHILLIPS C. G., PORTER R. Selective excitation of corticofugal neurones by surface-anodal stimulation of the baboon's motor cortex. J Physiol. 1962 Apr;161:73–90. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1962.sp006874. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Inghilleri M., Berardelli A., Cruccu G., Priori A., Manfredi M. Corticospinal potentials after transcranial stimulation in humans. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1989 Aug;52(8):970–974. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.52.8.970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Katayama Y., Tsubokawa T., Maejima S., Hirayama T., Yamamoto T. Corticospinal direct response in humans: identification of the motor cortex during intracranial surgery under general anaesthesia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1988 Jan;51(1):50–59. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.51.1.50. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kernell D., Chien-Ping W. U. Responses of the pyramidal tract to stimulation of the baboon's motor cortex. J Physiol. 1967 Aug;191(3):653–672. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1967.sp008273. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. LANCE J. W., MANNING R. L. Origin of the pyramidal tract in the cat. J Physiol. 1954 May 28;124(2):385–399. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1954.sp005115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Landau W. M., Bishop G. H., Clare M. H. Site of excitation in stimulation of the motor cortex. J Neurophysiol. 1965 Nov;28(6):1206–1222. doi: 10.1152/jn.1965.28.6.1206. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mayer E. A., Loo D. D., Snape W. J., Jr, Sachs G. The activation of calcium and calcium-activated potassium channels in mammalian colonic smooth muscle by substance P. J Physiol. 1990 Jan;420:47–71. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1990.sp017901. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. PATTON H. D., AMASSIAN V. E. Single and multiple-unit analysis of cortical stage of pyramidal tract activation. J Neurophysiol. 1954 Jul;17(4):345–363. doi: 10.1152/jn.1954.17.4.345. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Plassman B. L., Gandevia S. C. High-voltage stimulation over the human spinal cord: sources of latency variation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1989 Feb;52(2):213–217. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.52.2.213. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rothwell J. C., Thompson P. D., Day B. L., Dick J. P., Kachi T., Cowan J. M., Marsden C. D. Motor cortex stimulation in intact man. 1. General characteristics of EMG responses in different muscles. Brain. 1987 Oct;110(Pt 5):1173–1190. doi: 10.1093/brain/110.5.1173. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES