# Changes in blink reflex after simultaneous supraorbital and mental nerve stimulations in healthy subjects

## TL;DR

This study examines how the blink reflex changes when two facial nerves are stimulated together in healthy people.

## Contribution

The study reveals how simultaneous stimulation of two trigeminal nerve branches affects blink reflex circuits in humans.

## Key findings

- Simultaneous stimulation increased R1 amplitude but reduced R2 and R2c AUC compared to single stimulation.
- Facilitation of R1 and inhibition of late responses were observed with specific stimulation intervals.
- Late responses showed a recovery curve similar to paired SON stimulation.

## Abstract

In this study, we investigated the blink reflex (BR) after simultaneous and asynchronous stimulation of two trigeminal nerve branches. The objective was to characterize the physiology of trigeminal and facial circuits.

We performed three sets of experiments: recording BR response i. after supraorbital nerve stimulation (SON), after mental nerve stimulation (MN), and after simultaneous SON and MN stimulation (SON+MN) in 18 healthy individuals; ii. after MN (at an intensity eliciting BR response) preceding SON at various interstimulus intervals (ISIs) in seven healthy subjects; iii after MN (at sensory threshold) preceding SON at various ISIs. We compared the magnitudes of early and late responses.

The R1 amplitude after simultaneous SON+MN stimulation was greater than responses after single stimulation of the same branches. After simultaneous stimulations, the R2 and R2c areas under the curve (AUC) were smaller than the arithmetic sums of R2 and R2c AUC obtained after single stimulations. The second experiment provided a recovery excitability curve. In the third step, we obtained facilitation of R1 and inhibition of late responses.

The SON+MN stimulation caused an increased R1 circuit excitability compared to the arithmetic sum of the single stimulations; however, magnitudes of late responses did not potentiate. Thus, we have provided evidence for R1 circuit enhancement by simultaneous stimulation in humans, whereas modulation of late responses exhibited a recovery curve similar to that shown for paired SON stimulation.