I discovered yesterday that a friend of mine (Kevin) had developed
Sigateura (I'm not sure of the spelling) poisoning some time ago.
Apparently this is picked up from eating large fish that have fed on small
fish which have the toxin in them. One of the results of this poisoning is
that people experience hot/cold reversals. When Kevin washes his hands
under cold water for example, it feels extremely hot and his hands become
redder as they would if he was actually using hot water. He also can't walk
on the tiled floor in his bathroom as it feels as though his feet are
burning. So cold things for him feel very hot. Fortunately, hot things
don't feel cold for him although he knows others who have the same
poisoning who this does occur for. One fellow burned the inside of his
mouth because he couldn't tell how hot the coffee was he was drinking.
I'm really interested in trying to understand this from a PCT perspective.
What might be going on for Kevin in terms of control systems? Is it likely
that something has happened to lower level control systems? What kinds of
questions might someone doing research into this poisoning ask? I'm also
interested in the questions researchers into other medical problems (such
as cancer) might ask if they were interested in researching from a PCT
perspective. I gather the questions asked would be radically different from
those that are asked in traditional research paradigms but I'm having a
hard time getting my head time around what those questions might be.
When Kevin washes his hands
under cold water for example, it feels extremely hot and his hands >become
redder as they would if he was actually using hot water.
Hands also become redder when you wash them in cold water, don't they?
Dilation of the capillaries transfers heat both ways -- cooling hot skin
and warming cold skin.
He also can't walk on the tiled floor in his bathroom as it feels as
though his feet are burning. So cold things for him feel very hot.
Fortunately, hot things don't feel cold for him although he knows >others
who have the same poisoning who this does occur for. One >fellow burned the
inside of his mouth because he couldn't tell how >hot the coffee was he was
drinking.
For Kevin, it looks as though "hot" and "cold" signals are ending up in the
same place instead of different places the way they should, and in both
cases, in the place where "hot" signals usually go. For someone who
experiences a complete reversal, it's harder to understand.
One somewhat far-out possibility is that "hot" and "cold" sensations
(brainstem level, I should think), are combined into a single "temperature"
continuum somewhere, perhaps the midbrain. The toxin could be distorting
the mapping from sensed temperature to the corresponding point on this
perceived-temperature continuum. So if you want to play parlour games, I
will predict that the locus of the effects of this toxin will be found in
the sensory nuclei in and around the thalamus. This would be high enough
for spurious temperature-error signals to cause vasodilation via the
hypothalamus.
And you climbed all the way up this miserable cold snowy mountain just to
hear THAT?
Best,
Bill P.
ยทยทยท
I'm really interested in trying to understand this from a PCT perspective.
What might be going on for Kevin in terms of control systems? Is it likely
that something has happened to lower level control systems? What kinds of
questions might someone doing research into this poisoning ask? I'm also
interested in the questions researchers into other medical problems (such
as cancer) might ask if they were interested in researching from a PCT
perspective. I gather the questions asked would be radically different from
those that are asked in traditional research paradigms but I'm having a
hard time getting my head time around what those questions might be.