J Korean Neurol Assoc.  1997 Aug;15(4):775-782.

Blink Reflex in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease: Reduction of Habituation in Paired Stimulation

• Choi IS
• Lee SA
• Ma HI
• Im JH
• Lee MC

Abstract

The habituation of early (R1) and late response (R2) of blink reflex was investigated in 44 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 19 control subjects. The latency, duration and area of R1 and R2 components of blink reflex in single stimulation, and the percentage recovery of R1 in paired stimulation were not different between patients and control subjects. However, in PD patients, the latency of R2 evoked by test stimuli was shorter than that of conditioning stimuli, and the percentage recovery of R2 habituation was increased as compared to that of control subjects. The degree of early recovery of R2 habituation was slightly more evident in advanced PD patients and nonmedicated patients than that of control subjects. In addition, the early recovery of R2 was present in the test of asymptomatic side of PD patients. Our results suggests that blink reflex may be used as a method of evaluating the clinical status of PD patients.

MeSH Terms

Blinking*
Humans
Parkinson Disease*