Mathematical modeling of human thermoregulation : a neurophysiological approach to vasoconstriction

Skin blood flow is of major importance in human thermoregulation. Classic thermoregulation models require an explicit set point to control temperature. Normally such a set point is defined in the unit of the controlled variable (i.e. Celsius). However, the human body does not sense temperature directly, instead temperature information is coded into neuron fire rates. Here we explored the neurophysiology of thermoregulation to develop a mathematical model of skin blood flow that does not require a set point. The model was developed on measurement data of skin temperature, core temperature and skin blood flow and was validated using k-fold cross validation. The model explained over 90% of the variance in the measurements (r2=0.91). Hence, the results are promising and indicate that emulation of thermoregulatory neurophysiology is able to capture the dynamics of skin blood flow control