The laryngeal reflex, polysynaptic response through the central nervous system, plays an important role in respiratory control and pulmonary protection. Sensory stimuli to the larynx evoke a laryngeal reflex mediated by the brain stem via superior and recurrent laryngeal nerve. Aberrant or absent reflexes may cause laryngeal or pulmonary disorders such as idiopathic laryngospasm, spastic dysphonia, sudden infant death syndrome and stuttering. The purpose of this study is to record the averaged electrical activity from the recurrent laryngeal nerve and brain stem following electrical stimulation of the superior laryngeal nerve. The reflex potentials on the recurrent laryngeal nerve and laryngeal brain stem reflexes were recorded. For the latter, four reproducible positive and negative waves were obtained. Each wave latency was measured and compared with ones reported up to now.
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