A nerve conduction report gives three main measurements for each nerve tested: latency, how long the signal took; amplitude, how large the response was; and conduction velocity, how fast it travelled. The impression at the end states what those numbers mean together.
A nerve conduction report gives three main measurements for each nerve tested: latency, how long the signal took; amplitude, how large the response was; and conduction velocity, how fast it travelled. The impression at the end states what those numbers mean together.
Latency is the delay between stimulating a nerve and recording a response. Prolonged latency suggests slowing, most often from damage to the myelin sheath that insulates the nerve. Amplitude reflects how many nerve fibres are still responding, so a reduced amplitude suggests fibre loss rather than slowing. Conduction velocity is calculated from latency and distance and describes the speed along a segment. Reading them together is what distinguishes a demyelinating pattern, which slows conduction, from an axonal one, which reduces amplitude.
Normal ranges are wide, and individuals differ, so a result is usually judged against your other side and against the pattern across several nerves rather than against a published number alone. A value inside the normal range can still be abnormal for you if the opposite limb is markedly different. This is also why studies are often performed bilaterally even when symptoms are one-sided, and why a report may flag asymmetry as the key finding.
Nerve conduction studies assess large myelinated fibres. They do not assess small fibres, which carry pain and temperature sensation, so a normal study does not exclude a small fibre neuropathy. Changes also take time to appear after an acute injury, so a study done very early can be falsely reassuring. Read the impression rather than the tables, and discuss it with the neurologist who performed it, since at CNS the clinician who orders the study is the one who interprets it.
Clinical Neurology Specialists has been physician-owned since 1998, when Leo Germin, M.D., FAANEM founded it. Five board-certified neurologists and four advanced practice providers see patients at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices, each with its own AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratory.
Clinical Neurology Specialists is an adult outpatient neurology practice for patients 18 and older. The practice performs no surgery and operates no imaging suite, infusion suite or interventional pain programme, and provides no emergency or inpatient care.
Physician-reviewed. Reviewed by the physicians of Clinical Neurology Specialists — board-certified neurologists, AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratories, physician-owned since 1998. Reviewed 1 August 2026. This article is general education for adults 18 and older and is not a substitute for a consultation.
Adults 18 and older, at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices. Call 702-804-1212 or request an appointment online.