[Somatosensory evoked potentials and pain discrimination in man].

The relationship between 10 components of somatosensory evoked potentials (EPs) and pain discrimination in man was studied using Signal Detection Theory (SDT) psychophysics. Two painful electrical stimuli were delivered to the right index finger in random order over all trials. EPs were recorded from the scalp at the contralateral primary somatic projection area while subjects performed SDT discrimination. The stimulus-response combination was classified into 4 categories according to SDT response: hits, misses, false alarms (FAs) and correct rejections (CRs). The amplitudes and peak latencies of EPs in 4 categories were compared with each other. EPs associated with hits and FAs had significantly greater amplitude at P 190, N 220 and P 270 than those associated with misses and CRs, while there was no change in the amplitude of other components. The amplitude of these 3 components systematically increased with an increase in the magnitude of subjective response. Peak latencies of all components were not related to the response categories. These results indicate that the amplitude of the 3 last components may be concerned with the pain evaluating system in the brain.