Sistema Ortopédico e Muscular: Pesquisa Atual
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IS MU A NORMAL RHYTHM?

Cristina Nombela and Manuel Nombela

Although it was first described more than 50 years ago, the physiological significance and the potential pathological features of the mu rhythm still remains unclear. In an attempt to clarify certain aspects of this activity, we studied the presence of mu rhythm in 100 healthy subjects with no family history of neurological disease. A 15 minute long resting EEG register was obtained from each subject using a 32 channel Nihon Kodem electroencephalography device, and from these recordings we localized and quantified the mu and alpha rhythms. Kulman´s criteria were used to differentiate the baseline alpha rhythm from mu rhythm within occipital alpha rhythm. Further graphoelements of interest were observed, what leds us to studied the relationship between the mu rhythm and abnormal graphoelements in temporal regions. Our results indicated abnormal graphoelements in 48% of the healthy participants studied here. Neither the mu nor the rolandic alpha rhythms displayed any significant differences between male and females during the appearance of the abnormal graphoelements. However, there was a strong correlation between the appearance of a bilateral mu rhythm and abnormal graphoelements. Despite this temporal association between abnormal graphoelements and rolandic mu rhythm, there is no clear evidence to consider the latter as a pathological sign (no epileptic clinical history within the sample). Nevertheless, the mu rhythm is not necessarily a normal element and further studies will be necessary to clearly define the physiological significance of mu rhythms.