"Warmth-insensitive fields": evidence of sparse and irregular innervation of human skin by the warmth sense
"Warmth-insensitive fields": evidence of sparse and irregular innervation of human skin by the warmth sense
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DOI：
10.1080/08990229870682
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发表时间：
1998-01-01
影响因子：
0.9
通讯作者：
Cruz, A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Green, BG;Cruz, A
虽然在身体的某些区域比其他区域更严重，但温度敏感性被认为存在于整个皮肤中。只有当使用非常小的刺激时（例如，近似1 mm（2））对升温或降温的敏感性呈现不连续性。在这里，我们报告发现了几平方厘米的皮肤斑块，在这些区域内，加热不能被检测到，直到皮肤温度超过C热敏伤害感受器的阈值（>41摄氏度）。这些对温度不敏感的区域（大于或等于5 cm（2））似乎缺乏低阈值的温暖纤维，也被发现对非疼痛性加热的反应性降低，与周围皮肤区域相比，热痛阈值明显更高。这些部位的存在证实了温暖的纤维在人类皮肤神经中是罕见的，并证实了经典理论，即皮肤神经支配的温暖感觉是点状和稀疏的。不敏感区域也为评估低阈值温暖系统对热和热痛感知的贡献提供了独特的机会，并且它们在健康年轻人中的存在禁忌在C纤维功能的神经学评估中使用温暖敏感性。
Although more acute in some areas of the body than in others, temperature sensitivity is assumed to be present throughout the skin. Only when very small stimuli have been used (e.g., approximate to 1 mm(2)) has sensitivity to warming or cooling appeared discontinuous. Here we report the discovery of patches of skin several square centimeters in area within which heating cannot: be detected until skin temperature exceeds the thresholds of C heat-sensitive nociceptors (>41 degrees C). These warmth-insensitive fields (greater than or equal to 5 cm(2)), which appear to lack low-threshold warm fibers, were also found to have reduced responsiveness to non-painful heating and significantly higher heat pain thresholds compared to surrounding areas of skin. The existence of such sites corroborates reports that warm fibers are rare in human cutaneous nerves and confirms the classical theory that cutaneous innervation by the warmth sense is punctate and sparse. The insensitive areas also provide unique opportunities for assessing the contribution of the low-threshold warmth system to perception of heat and heat pain, and their existence in healthy young adults contraindicates use of warmth sensitivity in neurological assessments of C-fiber function.