Alloesthesia

Alloesthesia

Alloesthesia (allesthesia, alloaesthesia) is a condition in which a sensory stimulus given to one side of the body is perceived at the corresponding area on the other side of the body after a delay of about half a second. The trunk and proximal limbs are affected more often than the face or distal limbs. Visual alloesthesia, the illusory transposition of an object seen in one visual field to the contralateral visual field, is also described, for example in "top of the basilar" syndrome or with occipital lobe tumors.

Tactile alloesthesia may be seen in the acute stage of right putaminal hemorrhage (but seldom in right thalamic hemorrhage) and occasionally with anterolateral spinal cord lesions. The author has seen a patient report sensation below the stump of an amputated leg following stimulation of the contralateral remaining leg, a phenomenon which might be termed "phantom alloesthesia."

The mechanism of alloesthesia is uncertain: some consider it a disturbance within sensory pathways, others that it is a sensory response to neglect.

 

References

Kawamura M, Hirayama K, Shinohara Y, Watanabe Y, Sugishita M. Alloaesthesia. Brain 1987; 110: 225-236

 

Cross References

Allochiria; Allokinesia; Neglect