Bidirectional changes in digital skin temperature using biofeedback in a cold room.

The ability to increase digital skin temperature (DST) of cold extremities or to prevent decreases in DST in a cold environment may be useful clinically in the treatment of Raynaud's disease or in the alleviation of the effects of stressful stimuli. Ten Ss, each of whom participated in five sessions, were studied in a room at 20 degrees C. Each session was divided into 5-minute trials during which Ss either received auditory biofeedback of DST and tried to increase or decrease DST or received no feedback and merely sat quietly (Baseline trials). There were significant changes in DST during Baseline trials; these changes were different at different times during the session. The difference between Increase and Decrease trials was significant. The DST decrease during Decrease trials was significantly different from the change during corresponding Baseline trials, while the Increase trials, while the Increase trial DST, although of the same magnitude as the decrease trial, did not differ significantly from its corresponding Baseline trials DST.