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A study was conducted to generate quantitative expressions for the influence of core temperature, skin temperature, and the rate of change of skin temperature on sweat rate, skin blood flow, and heart rate. A second goal of the study was to determine whether the use of esophageal temperature rather than the right atrial temperature as a measure of core temperature would lead to different conclusions about the control of measured effector variables.

A two-part experiment was carried out on seven men to determine whether skin will respond to increased neurogenic vasoconstrictor activity during heating. The latter was induced by lower body negative pressure of -50 mm Hg applied for 5 of each 15 min in 12 studies with constant, neutral skin temperature (32.2-34.4 C) in a 40-min control period and with skin temperature held at 38 C for 40-70 min. We conclude that during heating, skin retains the ability to vasoconstrict but that this vasoconstriction cannot completely override heat-induced vasodilatation.