jitter

jitter

(jĭt'ĕr),

The random variability of the cycle-to-cycle duration of vocal fold vibration; contributes to the perception of a rough or harsh voice quality.

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Imaging Low amplitude irregularities in echo location on an ultrasound display, attributed to electronic noise, mechanical disturbances, and other nonspecific variables
Physiology Muscle jitter The normal electric variability—‘chaos’—measured by single-fiber EMG—in the interval between 2 action potentials of successive discharges of the same single muscle fiber in the same motor unit; jitter is characterised as instability in subcomponents of motor unit action potentials, and is due to the variation in the synaptic delay at the branch points in the distal axon and at the neuromuscular junction; like fiber density, jitter is increased in neuropathic conditions (motor neuron diseases)—e.g., myasthenia gravis—is accompanied by denervation and reinnervation, and attributed to inefficient transmission of impulses in recent neural collaterals, or due to blocking—abnormal neuromuscular transmission; it is normal or near-normal in myopathic disease
Psychology See Jitters

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

jitter

Imaging Low amplitude irregularities in echo location on an ultrasound display, attributed to electronic noise, mechanical disturbances, and other variables Neurophysiology Muscle jitter The normal electric variability–'chaos'–measured by single-fiber EMG–in the interval between 2 action potentials of successive discharges of the same single muscle fiber in the same motor unit; jitter is characterized as instability in subcomponents of motor unit action potentials, and is due to the variation in the synaptic delay at the branch points in the distal axon and at the neuromuscular junction; like fiber density, jitter is ↑ in neuropathic conditions–motor neuron diseases–eg, myasthenia gravis, is accompanied by denervation and reinnervation, and attributed to inefficient transmission of impulses in recent neural collaterals, or due to blocking–abnormal neuromuscular transmission; it is normal or near-normal in myopathic disease. See Fiber density, Single-fiber electromyography PsychologyJitters, see there.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.