Differences in the sensations of cold on the anterior torso of control and spinal-cord-transected individuals.

Application of cold stimuli to the sentient portion of the anterior torso of 12 spinal-cord-transected individuals (patients) and to comparable sites of 11 control participants showed that thresholds are lower for women than for men and that the difference between the sexes is maintained following spinal-cord transection. Patients of both sexes were more sensitive to cold stimuli than were controls. Estimates of stimulus intensity showed that participants reliably distinguished the 3 cool stimuli but that control women offered significantly larger estimates than control men. Spinal-cord transection produced an increase in the intensity of the sensations in women and a reduction in men. The changes in sensory perception that follow spinal-cord injury extend throughout the somatosensory system and involve all modalities. These changes cannot be explained as a simple release from inhibition.