Somatosensory evoked potentials elicited by mechanical and electrical stimulation of each single pain or tactile spot of the skin.

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Abstract
Single pain and tactile spots on the dorsum of the right hand in man were stimulated by electric pulses and mechanical taps using a needle to a pain spot and a horse tail bristle to a tactile one. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) and far field potentials (FFP) were observed in 3 volunteers by averaging of 200 or 400 samples of responses recorded from scalp points corresponding to the left and right somatosensory areas (LSA and RSA). For SEP measurements the difference between responses at LSA and RSA was obtained to specify the optimum response at LSA. The patterns of SEP elicited by mechanical or electrical stimulation to a pain spot were similar to those to tactile stimulation. The typical SEP to mechanical stimulation consisted of N23, P31, N40, P49, N64, P87, N114 and P147; the SEP to electrical stimulation consisted of N24, P33, N42, P52, N66, P95, N122 and P156. Mean peak latencies of the later components in SEP elicited by mechanical stimulation were earlier than those to electrical stimulation. The SEP amplitudes for mechanical stimulation were 1-3 .mu.V and were larger than those to electrical stimulation. By mechanical stimulation FFP was not obtained; by electrical stimulation FFP had a peak latency of about 14 ms (P14). No specific components to sensory modality of pain or tactile sensation were observed in SEP or in FFP.

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