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TAKAO NAKANISHI, MD; KIKU NAKAO, MD; TADAO TSUBAKI, MD

Arch Neurol. 1965;12(6):639-643.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

SINCE 1875 when Erb¹ and Westphal² critically described the movement of the limbs elicited as muscle stretch reflexes, many methods of recording and clinical observations of the knee-jerk have been reported. The exaggerated knee-jerk has been recognized as one of the most striking and fundamental aspects of spasticity. According to the accumulated literature, the typical patterns of knee-jerk in the hemiplegic limb as compared with the normal limb of the same patient are as follows: (1) The lower threshold of excitation; the lower intensity of stimulation necessary to produce the first perceptible response (Prichard³); (2) At the same force of stimulus, both the mechanical response of the leg and the electrical response of the quadriceps muscle are of greater amplitude and are very constant (Prichard,³ Miglietta and Lowenthal⁴); (3) The mechanical response has a closer resemblance to the perpendicular curve of ascent, invariably a well-marked . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
TOKYO

From University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine, Third Department of Internal Medicine (Drs. Nakanishi and Nakao), and Institute of Brain Research (Dr. Tsubaki).

Footnotes
Submitted for publication Nov 23, 1964; accepted Dec 18.

Reprint requests to Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (Dr. Nakanishi).

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