Human sudomotor responses to heating and cooling upper‐body skin surfaces: cutaneous thermal sensitivity

Abstract

The influence of local skin temperature (Tskl) on the control of local and whole-body sweating was evaluated in eight healthy males. A water-perfusion garment (37 degrees C) and a climatic chamber (36.45 +/- 0.78 degrees C; [+/- SD]; relative humidity 60.3 +/- 1.6%) were used to raise and clamp skin and core temperatures. Warm and cool stimuli were applied to four upper-body skin regions (face, arm, forearm, hand) using perfusion patches (249.0 +/- 0.2 cm2). Heating elevated, while cooling suppressed sweat rate (msw) locally, and at other skin surfaces. However, the tendency for Tskl manipulations to induce localized sweat responses was no more powerful than it was at stimulating sweating in non-treated regions (P > 0.05). Accordingly, neither thermal stimulus produced significantly greater local sudomotor influences than were elicited contralaterally (P > 0.05). No statistical support was found for the notion of inter-regional differences in upper-body cutaneous thermal sensitivity for sudomotor control, and, regardless of the stimulation site, whole-body sudomotor responses to localized thermal treatments were equivalent (P > 0.05).

The distribution of cutaneous sudomotor and alliesthesial thermosensitivity in mildly heat‐stressed humans: an open‐loop approach

“…We have developed a method whereby thermoregulatory control loops in humans can be held open for extended periods while discrete skin sites are thermally stimulated, without modifying the temperature of adjacent skin or core tissues (Cotter et al 1995). In a preliminary study using this method (Patterson et al 1998), we found no differences in the warm or cool sensitivities for sweating responses for the face, arm, forearm or hand. However, given the low relative thermosensitivity of the skin, we considered the possibility that our local thermal stimuli may have been inadequate, due either to the size of the stimulus or the design of the apparatus for its application.…”

“…A greater facial thermosensitivity has previously been reported for autonomic function (Nadel et al 1973; Crawshaw et al 1975) and temperature sensation (Hardy & Oppel, 1938; Kenshalo et al 1967; Stevens et al 1974; Crawshaw et al 1975) under closed‐loop conditions. Nevertheless, this apparent consensus is neither universally supported (Attia & Engel, 1981; Libert et al 1984; Patterson et al 1998) nor is it convincing with regard to autonomic or behavioural thermoregulation. For instance, in neither of the two most cited investigations were the core or untreated skin temperatures clamped (Nadel et al 1973; Crawshaw et al 1975).…”

“…0.2°C), at a peak rate of approximately −8°C min −1 . This stimulus, which was not totally independent of the effects of W +4 , was used because we had previously demonstrated a low cutaneous sensitivity for mild (−3°C) cooling (Patterson et al 1998). The W +4 and C −11 treatments were always applied 60–80 min before the C −4 treatment at a given site.…”

“…Perfusion patches were constructed from identical tubing, arranged in parallel, with 2–3 mm separations. The effectiveness of the patches was improved relative to our previous study (Patterson et al 1998) by making them more pliable, 11% larger, and with twice the number of tubes, thus increasing patch size and optimizing the skin–patch interface.…”

Heat Exposure Control Using Non-refrigerated Water in Brazilian Steel Factory Workers

“…Although the data does not provide evidence of the cooling of the analyzed sites by the proposed intervention, we assumed a decrease in the head skin temperature, considering the effect observed in the improvement of comfort provided by the following literature: McCaffrey et al showed significant reduction of the head skin temperature leading to a better thermal sensation 19) ; Armada-da-Silva et al (2003) and Patterson et al (1998) presented evidence on the modulation of the thermal sensation through cooling interventions on the face, which was also a directly affected area in our method 12,20) . An increased body temperature may be an important component of a higher perception of exertion, which is a feature of fatigue during exercise in hot environments 8) .…”