Late muscular responses to transcranial cortical stimulation in man.

Transcranial cortical stimulation was performed in healthy human subjects. Electrical and magnetic stimuli were applied over the motor areas of the hand and the leg. Surface EMGs were recorded from the antagonistic extensor and flexor carpi radialis and the anterior tibial and triceps surae muscles. Except for the well known early (primary) responses several secondary responses have been recorded. (1) A response with a latency of approximately 100 msec and with higher threshold than the primary response. It was found in approximately half of the muscles recorded from except for the anterior tibial where it was comparatively rare. It could appear both contra- and ipsilaterally and increased in amplitude with preactivation of the target muscle. It is probably not of startle origin but its appearance may be influenced by an approximately simultaneous startle effect from the scalp stimulus. (2) In some subjects a response with a latency of 50-60 msec was recorded. Sometimes it was easily separated from the primary response and from S 100 but sometimes the differentiation was difficult. (3) It was found that the known inhibitory period which follows the primary response was contralateral and increased in duration with increasing stimulus strength. The increase in duration may be due to inhibitory feedback from receptors activated by the simultaneously increasing primary muscle twitch. (4) In relaxed muscle we also observed a contralateral response with a latency exceeding 150 msec. The latency increased with increasing stimulus strength. This increase seems to be related to discontinuance of the inhibitory period.