Thermal influence on palmar sweating and mental influence on generalized sweating in man

Abstract

Sweat rates on the forearm and on the palm were simultaneously recorded by resistance hygrometry and the mode of sweating in these areas in response to thermal and non-thermal stimuli were compared with each other. In Series A, periodic infrared irradiation (1 min on, 1 min off) was done to the back of the trunk, and reflex responses in sweat rate were recorded on both test areas. A high correlation was noted between the mean changes in the palmar sweat rate and those in the forearm one during the irradiation cycle in a majority of cases. However the magnitude of the sweat response was much less on the palm than on the forearm. These observations reveal that the central mechanism of palmar sweating may be affected to some extent by the thermoregulatory mechanism. Series B was concerned with the pattern of response in forearm sweating to various non-thermal stimuli. Careful observations showed that the forearm sweating responded diversely to various mental stimuli, unlike the palmar sweating whose response was always an increase. Mental arithmetic, mental testing and physical exercise caused an immediate increase in the palmar sweating but often elicited a transient decrease in the forearm sweating, whereas pain, noise, and emotional stimuli consistently provoked an increase of sweating on the forearm as well as on the palm. These observations suggest that the activities of higher centers, presumably involving neocortex and limbic cortex, exert various influences on the central mechanisms of palmar and generalized sweating.