Wohlert A B
Department of Audiology and Speech Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
J Speech Hear Res. 1996 Jun;39(3):578-89. doi: 10.1044/jshr.3903.578.
The perioral reflex in response to innocuous mechanical stimulation of the lip vermilion was studied in 20 young and 20 older women. Responses to stimuli at the right and left sides of both the upper and lower lips were recorded. Results show significant specificity of response, especially for upper lip sites. Reflex response at the site of stimulation was greatest in amplitude and shortest in latency, followed by response at sites ipsilateral to the site of stimulation. Younger subjects showed greater localizing tendency than older subjects. Stimulation was significantly less likely to produce a reflex response in the older group. When reflex responses did occur, they were significantly lower in amplitude and longer in latency than the responses of the younger group. Nonetheless, reflex responses were common in both groups, with responses at the site of stimulation occurring 78% of the time in older women and 90% of the time in younger women. Every participant showed at least one reflex response to lip stimulation. Results suggest decreasing complexity of synaptic drive to the perioral system in old age but also show that reflexive response does not deteriorate completely, remaining an available element for motor control in normal older women.
对20名年轻女性和20名年长女性进行了研究，观察她们对口唇朱红色部位无害机械刺激的口周反射。记录了对上唇和下唇左右两侧刺激的反应。结果显示出反应具有显著的特异性，尤其是在上唇部位。刺激部位的反射反应幅度最大、潜伏期最短，其次是刺激部位同侧的反应。年轻受试者比年长受试者表现出更强的定位倾向。在年长组中，刺激产生反射反应的可能性显著降低。当确实出现反射反应时，其幅度明显低于年轻组，潜伏期也更长。尽管如此，两组中反射反应都很常见，年长女性中刺激部位的反应出现率为78%，年轻女性为90%。每位参与者对口唇刺激至少有一次反射反应。结果表明，老年时口周系统突触驱动的复杂性降低，但也表明反射反应并未完全退化，仍是正常老年女性运动控制的一个可用要素。
