Department of Neurological Sciences, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
Neurosci Lett. 2011 Apr 25;494(2):165-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2011.03.004. Epub 2011 Mar 9.
To gain information on the topographical distribution of warmth, burning and itch sensations in healthy humans, we delivered laser stimuli to elicit sensations of warmth, applied capsaicin cream for burning, and pricked histamine for itch on the skin of the face, shoulder, hand, thigh and foot in 12 healthy subjects. We found that whereas warm and burning sensations progressively increased from foot to face, itch sensation increased from face to foot (P<0.0001). Hence our findings indicate that unlike thermal and pain receptors, itch receptors are denser at distal than at proximal body sites. Our psychophysical study provides new information supporting the idea that specific unmyelinated neuronal pathways mediate sensations of warmth, burning and itch.
为了获取关于健康人类中温热、灼烧和瘙痒感觉的分布信息，我们在 12 名健康受试者的面部、肩部、手部、大腿和足部皮肤给予激光刺激以产生温热感，涂抹辣椒素乳膏以产生灼烧感，以及用组胺进行刺痛以产生瘙痒感。我们发现，温热和灼烧感从足部到面部逐渐增加，而瘙痒感则从面部到足部增加（P<0.0001）。因此，我们的研究结果表明，与热和痛觉感受器不同，瘙痒感受器在远端身体部位比在近端身体部位更密集。我们的心理物理学研究提供了新的信息，支持特定的无髓鞘神经元通路介导温热、灼烧和瘙痒感觉的观点。
