The skin is another brain?!

The other day, I came across a TV program with a really interesting content, and I was glued to it.

I heard it, but it might be right.

This is what Professor Nakatani, Associate Professor at Keio University, said.

I started off by asking, "What do you think about the role of the skin?"

As if I was asking myself this question, I said to the TV, "Just like the character for skin, it's like a shell that covers the whole body? Or maybe it's something that protects the internal organs..."

One of the performers answered, "It's what gives shape to humans."

The skin actually makes up 1/6 of our body weight, making it the largest organ in the human body.

Did you know???

I was quite surprised.

Because, although skin covers the human body, it is like a thin membrane, so I thought it was quite surprising that it makes up 1/6 of the body.

The skin includes not only the epidermis, which is visible to the naked eye, but also the dermis, subcutaneous tissue, capillaries, and hair roots. When I heard that, I understood, "Oh, so it's about 1/6 of your body weight."

Although it is the largest organ in the human body, there are still many unknown aspects about it.

As proof of this, just recently in 2021, he finally won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, bringing skin research into the spotlight.

The award was given for his "discovery of the thermal and tactile receptors in the skin."

As an amateur, I have no idea what it was, or what amazing discovery it was.

As expected from a professor! He explained the discovery of this receptor in a way that was easy to understand even for someone like me.

Research into how long it takes for humans to recover after skin damage has shown that 75% of damage is usually repaired within about 6 hours.

In an experiment, we irradiated damaged skin with red and blue light to see how long it took for each to heal, and compared the results.

A study showed that the time it took to repair the tissue when exposed to red light was shorter than the time it took to repair the tissue when exposed to blue light.

This leads us to wonder if the skin has the ability to sense color information.

Upon further investigation into this mechanism, it was discovered that light is sensed by cells called keratinocytes, which are located on the outermost layer of the skin.

Keratinocytes are the cells that make up 90% of the epidermis.

They also found that it receives a variety of other external stimuli.

Research results from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany have shown that exposure to the scent of sandalwood on the skin can speed up wound healing, suggesting that the skin can also receive odors and improve its regenerative abilities.

These changes in skin repair speed suggest that the skin is able to sense color and scent through keratinocyte cells.

In addition, it seems that the receptors for acidity, umami, and bitterness are also known to be expressed.

So, it can be said that the skin has many more sensory organs than we imagine.

Skin is the cell between your body and the environment

They take in information from their environment and make autonomous decisions about how to protect themselves without going through the brain.

The skin is a versatile sensor that detects changes in the environment

So, take care of your skin!

We must cherish it!

Let's wrap it gently in silk ♪

Silk is the best! Love Silk

Silk maniac

R