Sensory and motor interfering influences on somatosensory evoked potentials

The interfering influences by which the different components of the early s omatosensory evoked potentials are modified are reviewed from both neurophy siologic and clinical perspectives. Special consideration is given to the s pecific differences between sensory and motor interferences. In this contex t, the specific effect of the mental movement simulation task on the fronta l N30 component is discussed in relation to the involvement of this evoked wave as a physiologic index of the dopaminergic motor pathways. Relevant in terfering approaches, including concurrent events ranging from tactile stim ulation to locomotion, are reviewed and discussed insofar as these data pro vide insights into the neurophysiologic processes of interaction between co mpeting internal models controlling motor acts and sensory information.