Individual Differences in Thermoeffector Function in the Heat: Morphological Variations Help Determine Effector Activation

It is possible that much of the inter-individual variability observed within human thermoeffector responses can be explained by differences in body morphology, specifically the ratio between surface area and mass. However, few have examined these relationships across a sufficiently wide range of body sizes, while controlling for the factors that can independently alter heat dissipation. This investigation was aimed at identifying the proportion of thermoeffector variability that could be explained on the basis of morphology within individuals of widely different surface-area-to-mass ratios, but of similar age, fitness and adiposity.