Relative contribution of core and cutaneous temperatures to thermal comfort and autonomic responses in humans

• Published in: Journal of applied physiology (1985) Vol. 86; no. 5; pp. 1588 - 1593
• Main Authors: Frank, Steven M, Raja, Srinivasa N, Bulcao, Christian F, Goldstein, David S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Am Physiological Soc 01-05-1999; American Physiological Society
• Subjects: Adult; Algorithms; Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Body Composition - physiology; Body Temperature - physiology; Body Temperature Regulation - physiology; Energy Metabolism - physiology; Epinephrine - blood; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Hypothermia; Male; Metabolism; Muscle Tonus - physiology; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - physiology; Norepinephrine - blood; Skin; Skin Temperature - physiology; Studies; Temperature; Thermoregulation. Hibernation. Estivation. Ecophysiology and environmental effects; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Human; Thermal comfort; Autonomic nervous system; Body temperature; Thermoregulation; Skin; Catecholamine; Hypothermia
• ISSN: 8750-7587; 1522-1601
• DOI: 10.1152/jappl.1999.86.5.1588

1  Department of Anesthesiology
and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Medical
Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland 21287;
2  School of Medicine, McGill
University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1A4; and
3  Clinical Neurocience Branch,
Clinical Neurochemistry Section, National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda,
Maryland 20892
Subjective thermal comfort plays a
critical role in body temperature regulation since this represents the
primary stimulus for behavioral thermoregulation. Although both core
(T c ) and skin-surface (T sk ) temperatures are known
afferent inputs to the thermoregulatory system, the relative
contributions of T c and
T sk to thermal comfort are
unknown. We independently altered
T c and
T sk in human subjects while
measuring thermal comfort, vasomotor changes, metabolic heat
production, and systemic catecholaminergic responses. Multiple linear
regression was used to determine the relative
T c /T sk
contribution to thermal comfort and the autonomic thermoregulatory
responses, by using the ratio of regression coefficients for
T c and
T sk . The
T c /T sk
contribution ratio was relatively lower for thermal comfort (1:1) than
for vasomotor changes (3:1; P  = 0.008), metabolic heat production (3.6:1;
P  = 0.001), norepinephrine (1.8:1;
P  =   0.03), and epinephrine (3:1;
P  = 0.006) responses. Thus
T c and T sk contribute about equally
toward thermal comfort, whereas T c predominates in regulation of the autonomic and metabolic responses.
adrenergic; epinephrine; hypothermia; metabolism; norepinephrine; thermal comfort; thermoregulation; vasoconstriction