Quick question for biologists (and others)

[Rat]

When I worked in a print room, and had to shuffle paper quickly, I learned to make my hands sweat at will, as I hate people who lick their fingers to achieve this. (Why sweating is less unpleasant to me, I don't know.)

My question is, is this an unusual ability? Can anyone do this? As I'd never had need to before, I never did till then. Also, not having access to a galvanometer, I can't test if it's real.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Rat.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Rat- I used a saucer of water in a similar situation. I don't know if I'm boring or you're wierd!

 

[Rolfe]

Many animals use palmar sweat glands specifically to achieve grip. I assume they can therefore secrete palmar sweat when they see a need for grip coming up (or maybe when they start trying to grip something). So it's not that unusual an ability in the animal kingdom.

I did my PhD work in sweating, and to be honest I can't remember reading anywhere how grip-sweating is triggered. (If you have a few hours to spare, I'll tell you all about how horses in particular control thermoregulatory sweating though.) I'm not sure, either, whether humans have the specific grip-sweat glands on their palms - they are different from the thermoregulatory eccrine glands - but I suspect they do, the primate tree-swinging ancestry seems close enough for it to be likely.

So, I've never heard of this one, and I'd dearly love to know how you're doing it, but it doesn't seem intrinsically all that unlikely.

Rolfe.

 

[Rat]

I don't think you're boring or I'm weird. I just don't have the imagination to see obvious answers to simple problems.

All there is to it is willing it, much like willing ones arm to raise. In fact, now I think about it, it's more like willing oneself to urinate, if you'll forgive the analogy. That it, you couldn't explain it, you just do it. This is what led me to suspect that I might just be imagining it, but I think not.

Cheers,
Rat.

 

[Rat]

I did my PhD work in sweating, and to be honest I can't remember reading anywhere how grip-sweating is triggered.

I've heard some odd PhD subjects, but that's certainly a good one.

Cheers,
Rat.