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Mysterious form of referred sensation in man.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 01 Oct 1977, 74(10):4702-4705
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.74.10.4702 PMID: 270709 PMCID: PMC432016

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Abstract 

A phenomenon is described in which scratching a small excrescence on the skin on one part of the body is referred to a distant point as a "prick" or a "tingle". "Referral" points are elicited mainly by absent-minded scratching of the skin when attention is not focused on the local sensation produced by the scratch. Location of "referral" points seems to follow definite patterns: in all instances, "referral" points occurred on the same side of the body as the "stimulus" point; and each "referral" point was rostral to its "stimulus" point; and each "stimulus" point was associated with only one "referral" point. "Stimulus" and "referral" points seem to have a fixed relationship. Pathways from a "stimulus" point to a "referral" point are not known at present. Although parallels can be drawn between this phenomenon and Bender's "double simultaneous stimulation" phenomenon, both remain mysteries.

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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Oct; 74(10): 4702–4705.
PMCID: PMC432016
PMID: 270709

Mysterious form of referred sensation in man.

C P Richter
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Abstract

A phenomenon is described in which scratching a small excrescence on the skin on one part of the body is referred to a distant point as a "prick" or a "tingle". "Referral" points are elicited mainly by absent-minded scratching of the skin when attention is not focused on the local sensation produced by the scratch. Location of "referral" points seems to follow definite patterns: in all instances, "referral" points occurred on the same side of the body as the "stimulus" point; and each "referral" point was rostral to its "stimulus" point; and each "stimulus" point was associated with only one "referral" point. "Stimulus" and "referral" points seem to have a fixed relationship. Pathways from a "stimulus" point to a "referral" point are not known at present. Although parallels can be drawn between this phenomenon and Bender's "double simultaneous stimulation" phenomenon, both remain mysteries.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
  • Iggo A, Muir AR. The structure and function of a slowly adapting touch corpuscle in hairy skin. J Physiol. 1969 Feb;200(3):763–796. [Abstract] [Google Scholar]
  • WERNER G, MOUNTCASTLE VB. NEURAL ACTIVITY IN MECHANORECEPTIVE CUTANEOUS AFFERENTS: STIMULUS-RESPONSE RELATIONS, WEBER FUNCTIONS, AND INFORMATION TRANSMISSION. J Neurophysiol. 1965 Mar;28:359–397. [Abstract] [Google Scholar]
  • Evans PR. Referred itch (Mitempfindungen). Br Med J. 1976 Oct 9;2(6040):839–841. [Europe PMC free article] [Abstract] [Google Scholar]
  • SINCLAIR DC. The remote reference to pain aroused in the skin. Brain. 1949 Sep;72(3):364–372. [Abstract] [Google Scholar]
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