Department of Neurology, Chiba University School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
J Neurol Sci. 2011 Jul 15;306(1-2):16-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2011.04.007. Epub 2011 May 5.
Sweating on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, so-called emotional sweating, is considered to be mediated by the limbic system, including the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex. To reveal involvement of the limbic system in emotional sweating, we evaluated emotional sweating on the palms in patients with limbic encephalitis.
Sweat and skin vasoconstriction responses to arousal stimuli were recorded on the palms of 7 patients with limbic encephalitis caused by viral infection (n=3) or immune-mediated encephalitis (n=4). All patients had amnesia, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed mesial temporal lobe lesions, including those on the amygdala, in 6 of these patients.
Sweat responses were absent or markedly reduced in patients with limbic encephalitis compared to normal controls following deep inspiration (p<0.05), mental arithmetic (p<0.01), exercise (p<0.05), and tactile stimulation (p<0.01). Skin vasoconstriction responses in these patients were also impaired, but the extent of such impairment was mild compared to that of the sweating reductions.
Sweating on the palm was significantly impaired in patients with mesial temporal lesions. Sweating on the palm could be a useful index of limbic function.
手掌和脚底出汗，即所谓的情绪性出汗，被认为是由边缘系统介导的，包括杏仁核和前扣带皮层。为了揭示边缘系统在情绪性出汗中的作用，我们评估了由病毒感染（n=3）或免疫介导性脑炎（n=4）引起的边缘性脑炎患者手掌上的情绪性出汗。
对 7 例边缘性脑炎患者的手掌进行了唤醒刺激引起的汗液和皮肤血管收缩反应的记录。所有患者均有健忘症，其中 6 例患者的磁共振成像显示存在包括杏仁核在内的内侧颞叶病变。
与正常对照组相比，边缘性脑炎患者在深呼吸（p<0.05）、心算（p<0.01）、运动（p<0.05）和触觉刺激（p<0.01）后，手掌上的汗液反应明显减少或消失。这些患者的皮肤血管收缩反应也受损，但与出汗减少相比，其受损程度较轻。
中颞叶病变患者手掌出汗明显受损。手掌出汗可能是边缘功能的有用指标。
