The Feeling of Wetness is Actually an “Illusion”: So What Causes It?

In an experiment conducted more than 100 years ago, participants took part in the test we asked you to imagine and discovered that their fingers were not actually wet. they refused to believe. The feeling of wetness was definite, and although they could not see, they managed to perceive water as different from air.

The condition that makes our fingers feel wet without coming into contact with the liquid, your perception of wetness It will make you think again. In fact, we cannot perceive wetness on its own, and our brain compensates for what is missing with complex patterns.

Let’s not let illusions fool us.

When you sweat, when it rains, when you swim, or when you accidentally spill your coffee on yourself… Hundreds of experiences we can count. not wrong But the “wet” you perceive is interpreted by different factors.

There is a cooperation for wetness in our nerve cells, which we can call perception carriers. Our skin; It can detect textures, movement, temperature differences and stickiness. The changes taking place on the skin surface are sent to our brain via nerves, resulting in a wet surface.to the illusion of perception” is transforming.

Have you ever not noticed that you were sweating?

In Bentley’s “synthetic experiment” at the beginning of the twentieth century, a sheathed finger was alternately immersed in hot and cold water, and participants into cold water The reaction becomes greater. Liquids such as sweat, which remain on the skin at body temperature and change in temperature over time, become detectable with the effect of cooling.

Properties such as the size of the area covered by the liquid on the skin and fabric and the stickiness of the liquid are also factors in being noticed. In addition, the pressure exerted by the liquid and our touching the wet area are also with A-type nerve cells can be distinguished.

Over the course of a hundred years, different scientists have come to different conclusions about wetness in experiments.

In one of the interesting experiments hairy and hairless regions appear to have different responses to sensing wetness. Hairless areas, such as the palms, perceive wetness less than hairy areas.

In a different experiment conducted with a quantitative sensory test, cotton and different fabric types were wetted and contacted with the skin at the same time. wetter An attempt was made to understand how it was perceived. It has been observed that the intensity of wetness and the structure of the fabric affect the perception of wetness.

Why do scientists study wetness?

Wetness is defined by the combination of changes such as contact and temperature difference. neural connections It has recently started to be associated with Research on how our skin wetness is perceived is important for basic and applied sciences. Starting from the interaction of our perceptions with each other clinical, industrial and thermal We can open doors to developments.

MS disease It is thought that it will be a guide in the treatment and cure of diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, which affects the central nervous system.

You may have noticed that the temperature varies in different parts of your body.

The distribution of this change and our nervous system can change the perception of the liquid in contact with our skin. As a result, we use our elbow to understand the temperature of the water or to properly warm the milk in a baby’s bottle. our wrist We can use it.

Theoretically, if you warm your hands long enough, the coffee spilled on your hands will not feeling wet You may only experience a burning sensation, but we definitely do not recommend it. As a non-dangerous example, we can give the experience of it being very difficult to get into the water after waiting on the beach for a long time in summer.

It may help us survive.

Ability to detect changes in environmental humidity and skin wetness, voluntary and involuntary It enables the development of our behavior. In this way, we increase our adaptation to the environment. We got very wet in the rain; as the ‘wetness’ that makes one run home, get rid of wet clothes and make herbal tea, which starts the plot. what we learned We can say that it is a pattern.

The fact that our contact with a wet surface, whether we see it with our eyes or not, comes to us through a network of connections in our brain, is just one of the surprising facts about the human body. We have difficulty and wetness when stepping into the sea. when it’s cold We understand that it comes from the fact that it evokes a greater reaction. Finally, getting used to the cold also takes attention to the wetness. You know what they say; “It feels cold at first, but once you get in, you’ll get used to it.”

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