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Two-Point Discrimination

Two-point discrimination is the ability to discriminate two adjacent point stimuli (e.g., using a pair of calipers) as two rather than one. The minimum detectable distance between the points (acuity) is smaller on the skin of the finger tips (i.e., greater acuity) than, say, the skin on the back of the trunk. Impairments of two-point discrimination may occur with dorsal column spinal cord lesions, in which proprioception (and possibly vibration) is also impaired. Cortical parietal lobe lesions may produce a cortical sensory syndrome of astereognosis, agraphesthesia, and impaired two-point discrimination.