Test-retest and inter-rater reliability of two devices measuring tactile mechanical detection thresholds in healthy adults: Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments and the cutaneous mechanical stimulator.

Introduction/aims: Limitations exist in evaluating mechanical detection thresholds (MDTs) due to a lack of dependable electronic instruments designed to assess Aβ fibers and measure MDTs across different body areas. This study aims to evaluate the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the cutaneous mechanical stimulator (CMS), an electronic tactile stimulator, in quantifying MDTs.

Methods: Using a test-retest design, participants underwent assessments of MDTs using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments (SWM) and the CMS.

Early detection of altered cold perception in elderly with type 2 diabetes using a novel Quantitative Sensory Testing method.

Aim: To compare the effectiveness of two methods for measuring cold detection thresholds in screening for temperature-perception deficits in elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2 diabetes).

Methods: Cold threshold measurements were performed on seven body regions of participants with diabetes without neuropathy (n = 30; mean age, 70.9 ± 6.

Interaction between local blood flow and tolerance to prolonged pain in the elderly.

Purpose: We aimed to explore the link between local vasodilation and pain perception in elderly subjects, testing the hypothesis that altered local cutaneous blood flow participates in the decrease in pain tolerance with age.

Method: Sixty-eight young and 83 older participants performed a pain tolerance test in which they hold their hand in an airtight box in which air temperature was regulated at 65 °C until the pain became unbearable. Participants continuously estimated pain intensity.

An electronical stimulator for quantitative sensory testing and evoked potential analysis of tactile Aβ nerve fibers.

Objective: We aimed to determine the ability of an innovative device, the Cutaneous Mechanical Stimulator (CMS), to evaluate touch sensory pathways in Human.

Methods: Two experiments were conducted in 23 healthy volunteers aged 20-30 years. In the first, mechanical detection thresholds (MDTs) were assessed using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments and the CMS.

Preserved distraction analgesia but greater impact of pain on task performance in older adults compared with younger subjects.

Objective: In this study, we compared two working memory conditions to study the analgesic effect of a distraction in elderly vs young people and the effect of pain on performance on the distracting task.

Methods: Younger (n=27) and older (n= 34) subjects performed 1- and 2-Back working memory tasks, representing low and high cognitive loads, respectively. Infrequent, brief hot nociceptive and cold non-nociceptive stimulations were delivered 100 ms before visual N-Back stimuli.