Neurophysiology of the development and maturation of the peripheral nervous system

Introduction. Peripheral nerve maturation accounts during fetal life and infancy and varies with age. Nerve conduction studies are a objective procedure to investigate the development of the motor and sensory nerves. Method. We present a review of peripheral nervous system maturation studies in infancy, including our normal control group of infants from 1 week to 6 years of age. Motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity at birth is about one-half that of the normal adults, increases very quickly during the first year of life and reaches adult values between 3 and 5 years of age. All these electrophysiologic changes parallel the increase in numbers of large myelinated fibres throughout infancy. Conclusions. Nerve conduction studies are an accurate and no invasive method of evaluating the peripheral nerve maturation in paediatric population when motor and sensory functions are particularly difficult to assess clinically.