IMR Press / FBL / Volume 15 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.2741/3620

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Human thermoregulation: separating thermal and nonthermal effects on heat loss
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1 Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit, Laboratory for Human Bioenergetics and Environmental Physiology, School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada
2 Dalhousie Medical School, Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4H7, Canada
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2010, 15(1), 259–290; https://doi.org/10.2741/3620
Published: 1 January 2010
Abstract

Human thermoregulatory control during heat stress has been studied at rest, during exercise and more recently during exercise recovery. Heat balance in the body is maintained by changes in the rate of heat loss via adjustments in skin blood flow and sweating. Independent of thermal control, the actions of nonthermal factors have important consequences in the control of heat loss responses during and following exercise. While the effect of these nonthermal factors is largely considered to be an inhibitory or excitatory stimulus which displaces the set-point about which temperature is regulated, their effects on human thermoregulatory control are far reaching. Many factors can affect the relative contribution of thermal and nonthermal influences to heat balance including exercise intensity, hemodynamic status, and the level of hyperthermia imposed. This review will characterize the physiological responses associated with heat stress and discuss the thermal and nonthermal influences on sweating and skin blood flow in humans. Further, recent calorimetric evidence for the understanding of thermal and nonthermal contributions to human heat balance will also be discussed.

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