Center for the Built Environment

The ability to sense humidity and wetness is an important sensory attribute for many species across the animal kingdom, including humans. Although this sensory ability plays an important role in many human physiological and behavioural functions, as humans’ largest sensory organ i.e. the skin seems not to be provided with specific receptors for the sensation of wetness (i.e. hygroreceptors), the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying this complex sensory experience are still poorly understood. The aim of this Thesis was to investigate the neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning humans’ remarkable ability to sense skin wetness despite the lack of specific skin hygroreceptors. It was hypothesised that humans could “learn” to perceive the wetness experienced when the skin is in contact with a wet surface or when sweat is produced through a complex multisensory integration of thermal (i.e. heat transfer) and tactile (i.e. mechanical pressure and friction) inputs generated by the interaction between skin, moisture and (if donned) clothing. Hence, as both thermal and tactile skin afferents could contribute significantly to drive the perception of skin wetness, their role in the peripheral and central sensory integration of skin wetness perception was investigated, both under conditions of skin’s contact with an external (dry or wet) stimulus as well as during the active production of sweat.