Blount Hannah, Valenza Alessandro, Ward Jade, Caggiari Silvia, Worsley Peter R, Filingeri Davide
ThermosenseLab, Skin Sensing Research Group, School of Health Sciences, The University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, SPPEFF Department, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Exp Physiol. 2025 Feb;110(2):248-260. doi: 10.1113/EP092158. Epub 2024 Nov 29.
Female development includes significant size changes across the breast. Yet, whether differences in breast surface area (BrSA) modify breast sensitivity to warm, cold and wetness, and the associated epidermal properties (skin thickness and surface roughness) remain unclear. We investigated the relationship between BrSA and thermal and wetness perception, as well as epidermal properties, in 21 females (28 10 years) of varying breast sizes (BrSA range: 147-502 cm), at multiple breast sites (i.e., nipple, above and below the nipple, and bra triangle). Associations between BrSA and the perceptual and epidermal variables were determined via correlation analyses. Differences across test sites were assessed by repeated-measures ANOVA. Our results did not support the hypothesis that larger breasts present reduced thermal and wetness sensitivity, except for the above nipple site, which presented reduced warm sensitivity with increasing BrSA (r = -0.61, P = 0.003). We also found a heterogeneous distribution of cold, but not warm or wetness, sensitivity across the breast, with the above nipple site presenting lower cold sensitivity than any other site (P < 0.015). Our findings did not indicate any association between BrSA and epidermal properties (thickness and roughness), nor any site-dependent variation in these anatomical parameters (P > 0.15). We conclude that, while some skin-site (i.e., above the nipple) and perceptual modality-dependent (i.e., warm sensitivity) differences were observed, BrSA-dependent variations in thermal and wetness sensitivity were not a generalised feature of the skin covering the breast. These observations advance our fundamental understanding of breast sensory function, and they could inform the design of user-centred clothing such as bras.
女性乳房发育过程中，乳房大小会发生显著变化。然而，乳房表面积（BrSA）的差异是否会改变乳房对温暖、寒冷和潮湿的敏感度，以及相关的表皮特性（皮肤厚度和表面粗糙度）仍不清楚。我们调查了21名年龄在28±10岁、乳房大小各异（BrSA范围：147 - 502平方厘米）的女性在多个乳房部位（即乳头、乳头上方和下方以及胸罩三角区）的BrSA与热湿感知以及表皮特性之间的关系。通过相关性分析确定BrSA与感知和表皮变量之间的关联。通过重复测量方差分析评估各测试部位之间的差异。我们的结果不支持乳房越大热湿敏感度越低这一假设，但乳头上方部位除外，该部位随着BrSA增加温暖敏感度降低（r = -0.61，P = 0.003）。我们还发现乳房各部位对寒冷的敏感度分布不均，而对温暖和潮湿的敏感度并非如此，乳头上方部位的寒冷敏感度低于其他任何部位（P < 0.015）。我们的研究结果未表明BrSA与表皮特性（厚度和粗糙度）之间存在任何关联，也未发现这些解剖学参数存在任何部位依赖性变化（P > 0.15）。我们得出结论，虽然观察到了一些皮肤部位（即乳头上方）和感知方式依赖性（即温暖敏感度）差异，但热湿敏感度的BrSA依赖性变化并非覆盖乳房皮肤的普遍特征。这些观察结果增进了我们对乳房感觉功能的基本理解，并可为胸罩等以用户为中心的服装设计提供参考。
