ELECTRODIAGNOSIS

Attempts to increase the diagnostic yield and reproducibility of elect rophysiological investigation of peripheral nerve disorders have led t o the development of new techniques, such as measurement of nerve refr actoriness, as well as the re-evaluation, refinement and modification of more conventional nerve conduction tests. Other studies have charac terized the clinical and electrophysiological features of the subtypes of polyneuropathies associated with monoclonal gammopathies and have documented their natural history, providing important diagnostic and p rognostic information Techniques originating in basic neuroscience tha t study the excitability of neurons and nerve membranes have been appl ied to clinical conditions, such as motor neuron disease and cramps, a nd have provided considerable insight into their pathogenesis.