Lateral inhibition of heat sensations on the skin

Abstract

Many of the similarities that have been found between the organ of Corti, the eye, and the vibratory skin sensations are a consequence of lateral inhibition, and these similarities can be extended to heat sensations on the skin also. The chief differences lie in their numerical values. Analogues in heat sensations can be demonstrated for such phenomena as Mach bands and directional hearing, as well as the very pronounced sharpening effects of the spatial distribution of the sensation magnitude for traveling waves. Submitted on May 16, 1962