during exercise, increases in core and mean skin temperatures provide afferent neural information initiating (i.e., onset threshold) sweat production and increases in skin blood flow, with their output increasing proportionally (i.e., thermosensitivity) to the rise in core and mean skin temperatures (20, 51). Together, the onset threshold and thermosensitivity represent the physiological mechanisms of temperature regulation. Recently, we observed a lower thermosensitivity of whole body evaporative heat loss in women during exercise, with no differences in the onset threshold (16). In contrast, no sex differences were observed in skin vascular conductance (16). Importantly, the lower sudomotor thermosensitivity in women was independent of differences in physical characteristics and rate of metabolic heat production, suggesting that true physiological differences exist between the sexes.
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