Laboratoire d'Imagerie & Neurosciences Cognitives, FRE 3289 Université de Strasbourg - CNRS, 21 Rue Becquerel, 67 087 Strasbourg, France.
Ageing Res Rev. 2011 Jan;10(1):80-92. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2010.04.009. Epub 2010 May 26.
Aging is associated with a progressive decrease in thermal perception, as revealed by increased thermal detection thresholds in the elderly. This reduction in thermosensitivity follows a distal-proximal pattern, with more pronounced decrements observed in the limbs and in the perception of warmth vs. cold. The main underlying causes of this seem to be aging of the skin and subsequent reductions in thermoreceptor density and superficial skin blood flow. However, the results from some animal studies also suggest that changes in the peripheral nerve system, particularly fiber loss and decreased conduction velocity, may also be involved. In this paper, we review age-related changes in the thermal sensitivity of humans, their underlying mechanisms, and the strengths and limitations of some of the methodologies used to assess these changes.
老化与热感知能力的逐渐下降有关，老年人的热探测阈值升高表明了这一点。这种热敏性的降低遵循远端到近端的模式，在四肢和对温暖与寒冷的感知中观察到更明显的减退。造成这种情况的主要潜在原因似乎是皮肤老化以及随后的热敏感受器密度和浅层皮肤血流量减少。然而，一些动物研究的结果也表明，外周神经系统的变化，特别是纤维损失和传导速度降低，也可能与之相关。本文综述了人类热敏感性随年龄变化的情况、其潜在机制，以及评估这些变化的一些方法的优缺点。
