It feels ages since my last post on
this blog (last august!). However, I have a very good excuse for my lack of
posting: I have been busy with the last stage of my PhD… and guess what? Finished!
Job done! :)
Now that I have had the time to cool down, to enjoy a bit of
post-VIVA celebrations, it is time to get back to the keyboard.
What I'd like to share with you today is a presentation
which is concerned with some of the work I have performed during my PhD.
As you might recall from some of the previous posts, I have
been interested in the neurophysiology behind human's ability to sense skin
wetness and humidity. Despite a lack of skin humidity receptors
("hygroreceptors"), we are indeed able to sense moisture/sweat on the
skin, a fact which I personally find fascinating, to the point that investigating
how such sensory process is performed by our brains has become the core of my
PhD.
The research work has been quite effective in providing
novel insights on how such perception is experienced in humans and you might
find some of such findings in my papers:
Paper 1
(skin cooling) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23886487
Paper 2 (thermal
& tactile interactions) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24269934
Paper 3
(body mapping) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25103965
Paper 4
(skin warming) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24612108
Paper 5
(neurophysiological model) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24944222
Paper 6
(hygroreceptor across species) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25318766
However, should you not fancy digging into some (boring?!) scientific
jargon, the media attention that my work has attracted has resulted into some interesting
summaries which you can enjoy here:
American
Physiological Society: http://www.the-aps.org/mm/hp/Audiences/Public-Press/22.html
New
Statesman: http://www.newstatesman.com/sci-tech/2014/10/our-nerves-what-makes-us-itch-or-feel-wet
THE BRAIN
RACKER: https://brainracker.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/why-does-water-feel-wet/
I was kindly invited by Dr Samuele Marcora (http://goo.gl/N3NihI) to present my
work at the University of Kent during one of the School of Sport and Exercise
Sciences Research Seminars.
With my presentation I have tried to provide an overview of
the concept of skin wetness and of its role in thermal discomfort and
behavioural temperature regulation, as well as a summary of some of the results
of the experimental work conducted during my PhD.
I hope you'll enjoy it and feel free to get in touch should
you have any questions!
Davide Filingeri
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