Fig. 2: Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) results.

The upper panel shows the brain regions whose lesions were associated with lower basal left and right hand skin temperature in all patients. We ran a t-test at each voxel to relate the voxel status (lesioned or spared) and a continuous temperature score, which was computed by averaging the left-right hand raw temperature, adjusted by sex and proprioception. We explored lesion-symptom associations including the whole sample of 40 patients to maximise the statistical power. The lower panel shows the brain region whose lesion was associated with a reduced ability to discriminate both cold and warm stimuli. Using a voxelwise approach, we ran a t-test at each voxel to relate the voxel status (lesioned or spared) and a continuous thermoception score. This score was obtained by averaging the number of detected stimuli in the warm and cold conditions for the left hand, mirroring the effect found in the behavioural analyses. We explored lesion-symptom associations including the whole sample of 34 patients to maximise the statistical power. In both cases, we adopted a one-tailed 0.05 alpha threshold with 10,000 permutations. The permutation-based correction was applied to maximise power while maintaining control of the FWER. The statistical tests performed are one-tailed; that is, brain injury leads to impaired behavioural performance. Z-coordinates of each axial slice are given. In each axial slice, the right hemisphere is on the right side. The level of the axial slices has been marked by a red line on the sagittal view of the brain. The colour scale illustrates the corresponding Z values.