Temporal relationships between warmth imagery and associated changes in digital pulse amplitude, skin temperature and skin temperature sensation.

Temporal relationships between warmth imagery and associated psychophysiological changes were studied by recording digital pulse amplitude, skin temperature, and thermal sensations in 5 subjects. After each trial the subjects were asked whether they thought they had been successful in producing the expected mental image. During the subjectively successful imagery tasks the digital pulse amplitude and the skin temperature of the hand rose significantly. The subjective onset of imagery took place after the digital pulse amplitude had started to change but before the skin temperature had begun to rise. This implies that mental imagery of skin warming as a conscious experience is not a prerequisite of somatic change. The thermal sensation (i.e. feeling of warmth) took place while the skin temperature was rising or immediately after that. This suggests that it is not caused by the mental image per se but by activation of skin temperature receptors.