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Cutaneous thermosensory mapping of the female breast and pelvis

Cutaneous thermosensory mapping of the female breast and pelvis
Cutaneous thermosensory mapping of the female breast and pelvis

Differences in skin thermal sensitivity have been extensively mapped across areas of the human body, including the torso, limbs, and extremities. Yet, there are parts of the female body, such as the breast and the pelvis for which we have limited thermal sensitivity data. The aim of this study was to map cutaneous warm and cold sensitivity across skin areas of the breast and pelvis that are commonly covered by female underwear. Twelve young females (21.9 ± 3.2 years) reported on a 200 mm visual analogue scale the perceived magnitude of local thermal sensations arising from short-duration (10 s) static application of a cold [5 °C below local skin temperature (Tsk)] or warm (5 °C above local Tsk) thermal probe (25 cm2) in seventeen locations over the breast and pelvis regions. The data revealed that thermal sensitivity to the warm probe, but not the cold probe, varied by up to 25% across the breast [mean difference between lowest and highest sensitivity location was 51 mm (95% CI:14, 89; p < 0.001)] and up to 23% across the pelvis [mean difference between lowest and highest sensitivity location: 46 mm (95% CI:9, 84; p = 0.001)]. The regional differences in baseline Tsk did not account for variance in warm thermal sensitivity. Inter-individual variability in thermal sensitivity ranged between 24 and 101% depending on skin location. We conclude that the skin across the female breast and pelvis presents a heterogenous distribution of warm, but not cold, thermal sensitivity. These findings may inform the design of more comfortable clothing that are mapped to the thermal needs of the female body.

Breast, Female, Pelvis, Skin, Thermoreceptors
0031-9384
Valenza, Alessandro
60b629a5-c527-4137-8efb-6670b165d319
Merrick, Charlotte
10bd9458-829e-4662-b9ee-4c687926ae93
Blount, Hannah
18ae3446-5435-4631-b8df-ee957494c304
Ward, Jade
46e85414-ec11-42f9-bfec-b0f8b85b7abf
Bianco, Antonino
c813a96b-983f-438f-8ee8-36c67746e727
Worsley, Peter R.
6d33aee3-ef43-468d-aef6-86d190de6756
Filingeri, Davide
42502a34-e7e6-4b49-b304-ce2ae0bf7b24
Valenza, Alessandro
60b629a5-c527-4137-8efb-6670b165d319
Merrick, Charlotte
10bd9458-829e-4662-b9ee-4c687926ae93
Blount, Hannah
18ae3446-5435-4631-b8df-ee957494c304
Ward, Jade
46e85414-ec11-42f9-bfec-b0f8b85b7abf
Bianco, Antonino
c813a96b-983f-438f-8ee8-36c67746e727
Worsley, Peter R.
6d33aee3-ef43-468d-aef6-86d190de6756
Filingeri, Davide
42502a34-e7e6-4b49-b304-ce2ae0bf7b24

Valenza, Alessandro, Merrick, Charlotte, Blount, Hannah, Ward, Jade, Bianco, Antonino, Worsley, Peter R. and Filingeri, Davide (2023) Cutaneous thermosensory mapping of the female breast and pelvis. Physiology & Behavior, 262, [114112]. (doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114112).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Differences in skin thermal sensitivity have been extensively mapped across areas of the human body, including the torso, limbs, and extremities. Yet, there are parts of the female body, such as the breast and the pelvis for which we have limited thermal sensitivity data. The aim of this study was to map cutaneous warm and cold sensitivity across skin areas of the breast and pelvis that are commonly covered by female underwear. Twelve young females (21.9 ± 3.2 years) reported on a 200 mm visual analogue scale the perceived magnitude of local thermal sensations arising from short-duration (10 s) static application of a cold [5 °C below local skin temperature (Tsk)] or warm (5 °C above local Tsk) thermal probe (25 cm2) in seventeen locations over the breast and pelvis regions. The data revealed that thermal sensitivity to the warm probe, but not the cold probe, varied by up to 25% across the breast [mean difference between lowest and highest sensitivity location was 51 mm (95% CI:14, 89; p < 0.001)] and up to 23% across the pelvis [mean difference between lowest and highest sensitivity location: 46 mm (95% CI:9, 84; p = 0.001)]. The regional differences in baseline Tsk did not account for variance in warm thermal sensitivity. Inter-individual variability in thermal sensitivity ranged between 24 and 101% depending on skin location. We conclude that the skin across the female breast and pelvis presents a heterogenous distribution of warm, but not cold, thermal sensitivity. These findings may inform the design of more comfortable clothing that are mapped to the thermal needs of the female body.

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2023_BreastMapping_Phys&Beh - Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 2 February 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 February 2023
Published date: 1 April 2023
Additional Information: Funding Information: A.V. was supported by a PhD studentship funded by the University of Palermo . C.M. was supported by a PhD studentship co-funded by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Procter and Gamble GmbH. J.W. was supported by a PhD studentship co-funded by the University of Southampton and Procter and Gamble. H.B. was supported by a PhD studentship co-funded by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Nike Inc.
Keywords: Breast, Female, Pelvis, Skin, Thermoreceptors

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 475617
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/475617
ISSN: 0031-9384
PURE UUID: 9f3b53d0-91f0-4f5d-be6e-66aa185d3d23
ORCID for Hannah Blount: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2419-1716
ORCID for Jade Ward: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2304-1342
ORCID for Peter R. Worsley: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0145-5042
ORCID for Davide Filingeri: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5652-395X

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Date deposited: 22 Mar 2023 17:44
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:16

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Contributors

Author: Alessandro Valenza
Author: Charlotte Merrick
Author: Hannah Blount ORCID iD
Author: Jade Ward ORCID iD
Author: Antonino Bianco

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