epicritic

American  

[ep-i-krit-ik] / ˌɛp ɪˈkrɪt ɪk /

adjective

Physiology.

1. noting or pertaining to a discriminating responsiveness to small variations in pain or temperature stimuli (protopathic ).

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epicritic British  

/ ˌɛpɪˈkrɪtɪk /

adjective

1. (of certain nerve fibres of the skin) serving to perceive and distinguish fine variations of temperature or touch

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Etymology

Origin of epicritic

First recorded in 1900–05, epicritic is from the Greek word epikrítikos determinative. See epicrisis ¹, -tic

Example Sentences

Neither he nor his disciples have yet recognized the aid proffered them by students of the autonomic system or by the distinctions between the epicritic and protopathic functions and organs of the cerebrum, although these will doubtless come to have their due place as we know more of the nature and processes of the unconscious mind.

From Project Gutenberg

Its coiled, compact style and solid substance establish Author Price, 33, as a prose poet of epicritic sensibility.

From Time Magazine Archive

Epicritic sensibility is the most highly specialised and permits of the recognition of light touch, e.g., with a wisp of cotton wool, of fine differences of temperature, and of discriminating as separate the points of a pair of compasses 2 cm. apart.

From Project Gutenberg

Protopathic sensibility is of a lower order than epicritic.

From Project Gutenberg

The fibres concerned are non-medullated and regenerate comparatively quickly after injury, so that protopathic sensibility is regained before epicritic.

From Project Gutenberg