Topic: warm perception

Spatial summation in thermosensation refers to the integration of multiple sensory signals, resulting in the perception of a unique sensation. The relationship between stimulus size and perceived intensity is sub-additive, suggesting an influence of lateral inhibition, a process in which adjacent neurons inhibit each other. We investigated the role of spatial summation and lateral inhibition in thermosensation using computational modeling. We devised a perceptual decision-making task where thermal stimuli were applied to 16 participants' forearms, with temperatures increasing or decreasing fro