Electrophysiological assessment of the cranial reflexes

Abstract

Electrophysiological assessment methods play a key role in the diagnosis of various neurological disorders. Electrophysiological evaluation of cranial reflexes is particularly valuable for neurologists. This article provides an overview of electrophysiological evaluation methods for cranial reflexes, which are most commonly used in clinical practice. They provide objective assessment of the functional integrity of nervous system structures that make up the cranial reflex arc, identify the level and, in some cases, the nature of disease, as well as pathophysiological mechanisms of central and peripheral nervous system disorders. We describe the instruments and main approaches to analysing the results for the standard blink reflex, blink reflex with prepulse inhibition, blink reflex with paired stimuli and recovery curve evaluation, reflex inhibition of the levator palpebrae superioris, jaw jerk reflex, and reflex inhibition (cutaneous silent period) of the masseter muscle.

Keywords

• cranial reflexes
• blink reflex
• jaw jerk reflex
• cutaneous silent period
• electrophysiology
• electromyography