Thermal contrast enhancement predicts paradoxical heat sensation.

Autor: Mitchell AG; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. agmitchell@cfin.au.dk., Fischer Ehmsen J; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., Basińska M; Department of Psychology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland., Courtin AS; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., Böhme RA; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden., Sardeto Deolindo C; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., Allen MG; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Cambridge Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK., Sandberg K; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., Fardo F; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. francesca@cfin.au.dk.; Danish Pain Research Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. francesca@cfin.au.dk.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Communications psychology [Commun Psychol] 2024 Apr 24; Vol. 2 (1), pp. 37. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 24.
DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00083-8
Abstrakt: Paradoxical Heat Sensation (PHS) is the remarkable feeling of warmth or heat pain while the skin is cooling. Despite its initial documentation over 100 years ago, a unified explanation for this perplexing experience remains elusive. Here we apply contrast enhancement principles, known for their instrumental role in understanding visual illusions, to the domain of thermosensation. Contrast enhancement describes the amplification of two contrasting visual features, such as the enhanced perception of an edge between a light and dark bar. In thermosensation, this encompasses an enhancement of the difference between sequential warming and cooling of the skin, and is defined as the normalised difference between successive temporal warm and cold temperatures. Remarkably, thermal contrast predicts the occurrence of PHS. Our findings reveal compelling evidence supporting the role of thermal contrast in the generation of PHS, shedding light on its underlying mechanism and offering a framework for broader encoding principles in thermosensation and pain.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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