Evening star., 1948-07-02
Stars, Men and Atoms
Doctors Told of Little Gin
Who Likes TO Sit on Stove
Gases Of Persons Who Feel No Pain
Described At Medical Meeting
By Thomas n. Henry

By Thomas n. Henry
CHICAGO By Mail) There is little girl In
Indianapolis who likes to sit down on sizzling
hot stove.
She says 1t feels nice, even when her flesh
Is being burned.
She was described before the American
Medical Association here as one OF the few
cases described In medical literature Of persons
without the ability to feel. pain.
Seven years old and q child Of normal intelli-
gence, she often has broken legs or arms. Her
little body is covered with scars. Pain. which
causes most people to take care OF themselves,
has no meaning for her. The case was de-
scribed BY two Indianapolis doctors, David A.
Boyd, jr,. and Louis w. Me.
Not Devoid Of Feeling.
The child, they said, is not devoid of feeling.
She suffers discomfort from itching and
scratches her body until the flesh is raw. She
says that cold is uncomfortable, but appar.
emily never Is painful.
In the discussion Of the report another
case was cited Of man who earned his i've
ing as human pincushion in circus. He
would allow a nail to be driven through his
hand with no apparent discomfort.
Hitherto regarded as mere curiosities these
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for If the mechanism Of immunity to pain can
be found it may be the means of relieving in
tolerable suffering in cases Of incurable cancer
and the like. 1t has been known for years
that persons differ greatly in their sensitive-
ness to pain and this apparently has been
reduced almost to zero in essentially normal
individuals in moments of great emotional
exaltation-as In the case of martyrs burned
at the stake.
Pain, as DR.. Boyd explained, probably goes
back very far in the evolutionary history Of
the race since it is essential for self-preserva-
tion. Its pathways in the lower segments Of
the nervous system are fairly well known.
What happens in the upper levels Of the mind
remains mystery. Within the past few years
surgeons have stopped permanently not pain
itself but the disagreeableness OF pain by an
operation cutting the pathways between mans
new and old brain.
"Synthesized" Area.
In the little GIRL however. these pathways
presumably are intact. There Is some evidence
that in about the middle of the cerebral cortex.
or top of the brain, there is tiny area Of
nerve cells where all pain sensations are
"synthesized'- Is come into existence so
far as the mind Is concerned. Some cases have
been reported where this area has been at
tackled by a tumor.
DR.. Boyd lkened the condition of the child
to that of victims of brain conditions known
as agnosias and aphasias. Sometimes, due to
LESSONS in parts Of the front Of the brain, they
completely lose the ability to recognize printed
words In other cases they can recognize words
on paper but not when they are spoken. Ger
tain kinds of color blindness may be in the
same category. This child is the victim Of pain
blindness.
The important point 1t was stressed is to
locate specifically this pain center, If 1T can
be demonstrated actually to exist.
Among the cases described in the discussion
which followed DR.. Boyd's report was that Of
man Of 81 who has no sense Of smell, little
sense of taste, and who is absolutely indiffer-
ent to pain except for the area between the
top of his neck and his nose. He suffers ex-
cruciatingy from toothache. He could hold
red-hot iron in his hands with no feeling.
Another case described was that of family
of three children. Two are almost completely
insensitive to pain although they have good
feeling discrimination. They easily can tell
The difference between pressure and a pin
prick. The third child Is oversensitive to
the slightest discomfort