TY - JOUR
T1 - Cutaneous warm and cool sensation thresholds and the inter-threshold zone in Malaysian and Japanese males
AU - Lee, Joo Young
AU - Saat, Mohamed
AU - Chou, Chinmei
AU - Hashiguchi, Nobuko
AU - Wijayanto, Titis
AU - Wakabayashi, Hitoshi
AU - Tochihara, Yutaka
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to express our thanks to Trifon Metodiev, Andy Cookson, Mutsuhiro Fujiwara, and Shizuka Umezaki for their academic advice and technical support. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 21247040) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - The purpose of this study was to investigate ethnic differences in cutaneous thermal sensation thresholds and the inter-threshold sensory zone between tropical (Malaysians) and temperate natives (Japanese). The results showed that (1) Malaysian males perceived warmth on the forehead at a higher skin temperature (Tsk) than Japanese males (p<0.05), whereas cool sensations on the hand and foot were perceived at a lower Tsk in Malaysians (p<0.05); (2) Overall, the sensitivity to detect warmth was greater in Japanese than in Malaysian males; (3) The most thermally sensitive body region of Japanese was the forehead for both warming and cooling, while the regional thermal sensitivity of Malaysians had a smaller differential than that of Japanese; (4) The ethnic difference in the inter-threshold sensory zone was particularly noticeable on the forehead (1.9±1.2C for Japanese, 3.2±1.6°C for Malaysians, p<0.05). In conclusion, tropical natives had a tendency to perceive warmth at a higher Tsk and slower at an identical speed of warming, and had a wider range of the inter-threshold sensory zone than temperate natives.
AB - The purpose of this study was to investigate ethnic differences in cutaneous thermal sensation thresholds and the inter-threshold sensory zone between tropical (Malaysians) and temperate natives (Japanese). The results showed that (1) Malaysian males perceived warmth on the forehead at a higher skin temperature (Tsk) than Japanese males (p<0.05), whereas cool sensations on the hand and foot were perceived at a lower Tsk in Malaysians (p<0.05); (2) Overall, the sensitivity to detect warmth was greater in Japanese than in Malaysian males; (3) The most thermally sensitive body region of Japanese was the forehead for both warming and cooling, while the regional thermal sensitivity of Malaysians had a smaller differential than that of Japanese; (4) The ethnic difference in the inter-threshold sensory zone was particularly noticeable on the forehead (1.9±1.2C for Japanese, 3.2±1.6°C for Malaysians, p<0.05). In conclusion, tropical natives had a tendency to perceive warmth at a higher Tsk and slower at an identical speed of warming, and had a wider range of the inter-threshold sensory zone than temperate natives.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2009.11.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2009.11.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77649336591
SN - 0306-4565
VL - 35
SP - 70
EP - 76
JO - Journal of Thermal Biology
JF - Journal of Thermal Biology
IS - 2
ER -