title: Nonthermal sensory input and altered human thermoregulation: effects of visual information depicting hot or cold environments.
abstract: A recent study showed that thermoregulatory-like cardiovascular responses can be invoked simply by exposure to visual information, even though the thermal environments are neutral and unchanged. However, it was not clear how such responses affect actual human body temperature regulation. We investigated whether such visually invoked physiological responses can substantively affect human core body temperature in a thermally challenging cold environment. Participants comprised 13 graduate or undergraduate students viewing different video images containing hot, cold, or no scenery, while room temperature was gradually lowered from 28 to 16 °C over 80 min. Rectal temperature, mean skin temperature, core to skin temperature gradient, and oxygen consumption were measured during the experiment. Rectal temperature was significantly lower when hot video images were presented compared to when control video images were presented. Oxygen consumption was comparable among all video images, but core to skin temperature gradient was significantly lower when hot video images were presented. This result suggests that visual information, even in the absence of thermal energy, can affect human thermodynamics and core body temperature.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Science, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. fridge_lab@kyudai.jp.
authors.forename: Jun'ya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takakura
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Science, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Damee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Science, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Egashira
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanuki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004777:Environment; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Artificial media environment; Thermoregulation; Visual information; Visual-thermal interaction