HUMAN RACIAL RESPONSES 

 LOCAL COLD ADAPTATION AND HABITUATION 



C. J. Eagan 



When experiments are done on any animal that is conscious of 

 its environment, the role of the higher nervous centers in modifying 

 physiological responses cannot be ignored. Bernard (1865)* in "An 

 introduction tothestudy of experimental medicine" (1927) has stated: 



no animal is ever absolutely comparable with another — 

 neither is the same animal comparable with himself at 

 different times when we examine him, whether because 

 he is in different conditions, or because his organism 

 has grownlesssensitive.by getting used to the substance 

 given him or to the operation to which he is subjected. 



Davis (1934)** described modifications in tne galvanic reflex as 

 a result of daily repetition of a stimulus. Other examples could be 

 cited. A progressive reduction in response to a repeated stimulus 

 has been termed "habituation" by Glaser and Whittow (1953)***. 

 "Habituation" is defined as "the process of forming into a habit or 

 accustoming" and it is implied that "it depends on the mind, that it 

 is reversible, and that it may involve the diminution of normal 

 responses or sensations" (Glaser, Hall, and Whittow, 1959****). 



This is a typeof adaptation. Where the habituation is character- 

 ized by a reduction in response to a cold stimulus, then it is a "cold 

 adaptation." In man it may be the most common type of cold adapta- 

 tion which occurs. 



I propose that there are two types of habituation, specific and 

 general. "Specific habituation" is specific to the repeated stimulus 

 ♦Bernard, C. 1865. An introduction to the study of experimental medicine. 

 Henry Schuman, Inc. 1927. 226 pp. 



♦♦Davis, R. C. 1934. Modifications of the galvanic reflex by daily repetition 

 of a stimulus. J. Exp. Psychol. 17:504-535. 



♦♦♦Glaser, E. M. and G. C. Whittow. 1953. Evidence for a non-specific mechan- 

 ism of habituation. J. Physiol. 122:43P. 



♦♦♦♦Glaser. E. M., M. S. Hall, and G. C. Whittow. 1959. Habituation to heating 

 tand cooling of the same hand. J. Physiol. 146:152-164. 



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