In the past years, various electrophysiological procedures for measuring every nerve fiber function were developed. Several of them like somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) for touch fibers or laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) for nociceptive fibers are already in clinical use. Other methods like cold-evoked potentials (CEPs) or pinprick-evoked potentials (PEPs) are exclusively applied for research. The aim of our study is the electrophysiological measurement of all known nerve fiber functions using evoked potentials. Therefore we are applying different stimuli and comparing their central processing by EEG-based potential analysis.

In this study 20 subjects will be tested. Various applied evoked potentials will be compared concerning latency and amplitude. During the experiment, an EEG will be recorded. Subsequent muscle and blink artefacts will be adjusted.

The preliminary data shows that for instance touch evoked potentials could be a noninvasive alternative for dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) with fast latency and higher amplitudes.

Modality-specific evoked potentials are able to measure all sub-types of somatosensory nerve fibers. The results could be a foundation for creating a modality-specific measurement report, which could be used in the diagnostics of neurological disorders with sensory deficits.

MODALITY-SPECIFIC EVOKED POTENTIALS