Differences between the time constant of sensory and motor peripheral nerve fibers: Further studies and considerations

Using a method of latent addition, we previously demonstrated that sensory fibers had time constants that were about three times longer than those of motor fibers. The aim of the present work was to confirm this difference by determining the time constants for single sensory axons by using microneurography and for single motor axons by recording single motor units with bipolar concentric needle electrodes. To determine the influence of the conditioning pulse on the neural time constant, we used both depolarizing and hyperpolarizing conditioning pulses. When hyperpolarizing conditioning pulses at comparable intensity were applied, the tendency was to find shorter time constants than when depolarizing pulses were applied, although still with the motor time constant being slightly shorter. Although the absolute values varied with the different methods, the sensory time constant was generally three times the motor time constant for depolarizing conditioning stimuli, whereas for hyperpolarizing conditioning stimuli the difference dropped to about one and a half. These characteristics improve understanding of the behavior of sensory and motor axons, and, in particular, explain the differential excitability. Determination of neural time constants might prove valuable for clinical use. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve, 21: 48–54, 1998.