EVIDENT DIFFERENCE IN THE EXCITABILITY OF THE MOTONEURON POOL BETWEENNORMAL SUBJECTS AND PATIENTS WITH SPASTICITY ASSESSED BY A NEW METHODUSING H-REFLEX AND M-RESPONSE

The excitability of the motoneuron (MN) pool in the resting state was compared between normal control subjects and patients with spasticity resulting from HTLV-I-associated myelopathy, using a new parameter, Hs lp/Mslp, and the conventional parameters Hmax/Mmax and Hth/Mth. Differ ences in the excitability of the MN pool between these two groups reac hed a high degree of statistical significance only when assessed with the new parameter. This suggests the methodological advantage of the H slp/Mslp over both Hmax/Mmax and Hth/Mth for evaluation of the excitab ility of the MN pool in the resting state.