Physiologic tremor
Physiologic tremor
复制标题
生理性震颤
作者:
C. van Buskirk;R. Fink
PHYSIOLOGIC TREMOR of volitional muscle contraction has been recognized and recorded since 1886, yet the mechanisms producing this tremor have remained obscure and open to speculation and experimentation. The first recording of physiologic tremor is usually credited to Schiifer, Canney, and Tunstall,' who measured the rhythm of muscular activity in volitional contraction. Most of the recordings in their study were obtained by using a tambour placed against the contracting muscle, but they made a few records of true tremor by recording actual movement of the body part. The recordings were chiefly from the opponens policis muscle and thumb. In 20 subjects, they found the range of tremor with volitional movement to be between 8 and 13 cps, with an average of 10 cps. They observed that there were variations of this rhythm from one examination to another in the same person, as well as variations from one person to another. In the same year, Horsley and Schder2 studied the tremor with muscle contraction in dogs, cats, rabbits, and monkeys by recording the rhythm of muscle contraction after stimulation of the cerebral cortex and the corona radiata. They also measured the rhythm of reflex muscular contractions. All of these records revealed the same general frequency, a range of between 8 and 13 cps. They also studied the tremor after stimulation of the cut end of the cord, obtaining similar frequencies. Stimulation of the peripheral nerve revealed the usual tetanic contractions, dependent upon the rate of stimulation of the nerve. From these observations, they concluded that the site of origin of this rhythmic activity was within the spinal cord. Since 1886, various investigators have studied physiologic tremor, but very little new information has been added. GriBths,3 in 1888, and Herringham.' in 1890, noted that loading the muscle would increase the amplitude of physiologic tremor without altering the frequency. Jasper and Andrew,J Schwab and Cobb,6 and Lindqvist' all studied the relationship between the alpha rhythm of the electroencephalogram and physiologic tremor. The conclusion was reached that there is no causal relationship despite their similarity in frequency. More recently, Halliday and Redfearn,8s@ using an automatic frequency analyzer for the study of physiologic tremor in man, have also pointed out that, with loading, there is an increase in amplitude of the tremor. They found a spectrum of tremor between 5 and 15 cps but with peak frequencies around 9 or 10 cps. However, they did notice that there was a variation in frequency from one examination to the next in the same person. The frequency spectral analysis of tremor in tabetic patients with marked alteration in proprioceptive sensibility indicated an absence of 10-cps frequencies, as well as a change in frequency on loading, a response differing from that of the normal subject. These authors have interpreted their data as supporting the contention that physiologic tremor is due to oscillation around a spinal reflex arc and concluded that the changes noted in tabetic patients are the changes one would expect in the presence of a failing servoloop mechanism. Marshall and Walsh,'O in another recent study of physiologic tremor, found a predominant frequency of 10 cps, with a range of between 7 and 12 cps, and they also found