An investigation on humans’ sensitivity to environmental temperature

Abstract Thermal perception research has focused on detecting temperature changes on specific body parts, while investigating thermal comfort aims to understand comfortable temperatures in an environment. However, understanding overall body thermal perception remains challenging. To address this, we used four climate chambers with temperatures between 24°C ± 1°C, where 26 participants transitioned between chambers and indicated if the temperature felt warmer or colder. We collected 3120 temperature comparisons and analysed the data using generalized linear mixed-effects models (GLMM). Results showed a Point of Subjective Equality (PSE) of − 0.13°C (± 0.1°C), a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) of 0.38°C (± 0.1°C), revealing the minimum detectable temperature change, a negative absolute threshold of − 0.91°C (± 0.28°C) and a positive absolute threshold of 0.8°C (± 0.34°C). These findings demonstrate participants’ accurate temperature discrimination abilities (JND) and limited variation between individuals, suggesting an intrinsic mechanism governing temperature sensitivity. The GLMM analysis demonstrated remarkable accuracy in explaining the observed data, with an R-squared value of 0.72. In conclusion, our experiment provides compelling evidence of human sensitivity to environmental temperatures, addressing a long-standing question in the field of thermal perception.