Keywords

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Definition

Thermoanesthesia refers to a complete loss of temperature sense for both hot and cold stimuli, whereas the term thermohypesthesia designates a relative loss of this ability. A common method of assessing changes in temperature perception is to ask the patient to discriminate between test tubes filled with warm and cool water applied to specific areas of the skin. Temperature sense for the upper and lower extremities is carried by the anterolateral system (spinothalamic tracts) and is mediated by the spinal nucleus and tract of the trigeminal nerve for the face. These pathways converge in the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus prior to ascending to the postcentral gyrus in the parietal lobe. Loss or diminished temperature perception may result from lesions anywhere along these pathways.

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