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The Neurophysiology and Assessment of Human Skin Wetness Perception

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Agache’s Measuring the Skin

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Abstract

The ability to perceive skin wetness represents one of the numerous somatosensory features of the skin. Although the ability to sense skin wetness and humidity is critical for behavioral and autonomic adaptations, humans are not provided with specific skin receptors for sensing wetness. Hence, the ability to sense skin wetness has been suggested to rely on a complex multisensory integration of thermal (i.e., heat transfer) and tactile (i.e., mechanical pressure and skin friction) inputs generated by the interaction between skin, moisture, and (if donned) clothing. Recent evidence has confirmed this hypothesis, and the first neurophysiological model of human skin wetness perception, which helps explain how humans sense cold, neutral, and warm wetness on their skin, has been recently developed. This chapter presents the state of the current knowledge about the neurophysiological and psychophysical bases of humans’ ability to perceive skin wetness, along with an overview of the most recent methods used to assess this sensory feature of the human skin. Also, a practical outline of a typical experimental protocol, as used in the assessment of skin wetness perception, is presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Ergonomics Research Centre, Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK

    Davide Filingeri, Simon Hodder & George Havenith

Authors
  1. Davide Filingeri
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  2. Simon Hodder
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  3. George Havenith
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Davide Filingeri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medecine Vasculaire Lab. Ingénierie et de Biologie Cutanées, CHU Besancon Service Dermatologie et, Besancon, France

    Philippe Humbert

  2. San Francisco, California, USA

    Howard Maibach

  3. Department of Dermatology, Saint Jacques University Hospital, Besançon, France

    Ferial Fanian

  4. Univ. Besançon Dépt. Dermatologie, Besançon, France

    Pierre Agache

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Filingeri, D., Hodder, S., Havenith, G. (2015). The Neurophysiology and Assessment of Human Skin Wetness Perception. In: Humbert, P., Maibach, H., Fanian, F., Agache, P. (eds) Agache’s Measuring the Skin. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26594-0_86-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26594-0_86-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26594-0

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