Physiological-perceptual divergence (PPD) in human thermal adaptation: Multimodal evidence of decoupled body-mind responses during controlled indoor exposure

Thermal comfort arises not only from physical exposure but also from the dynamic interplay between bodily regulation and perceptual stability. This study investigates physiological-perceptual divergence (PPD) in human thermal adaptation—a measurable decoupling between autonomic activation and subjective comfort—through a multimodal experimental framework. Twenty-four participants performed structured cognitive tasks under two calibrated thermal conditions referred as lower temperature (LT) and higher temperature (HT) sessions, with a controlled air temperature difference of approximately . Synchronous acquisition of environmental parameters, skin temperature ( ), electrodermal activity (EDA), and subjective survey responses enabled cross-domain analysis with deterministic alignment pipeline. Results show that HT induced a mean increase of in and a 150 % rise in tonic EDA, indicating robust autonomic activation. However, corresponding perceptual indices—thermal, visual, acoustic, air-quality, and productivity appraisals–remained statistically stable ( ), with only domain-specific shifts in visual and productivity ratings. The correlation between and was weak ( ), confirming partial independence of sympathetic drive and subjective comfort. These findings reveal a cross-domain divergence in which physiological systems register thermal load while perceptual system preserve equilibrium through cognitive adaptation. This decoupled body–mind response challenges classical comfort models assuming linear correspondence between energy balance and sensation. The integrated pipeline–linking environmental sensing, wearable physiology, and structured perception data–provides a reproducible framework for multimodal comfort research. Recognising that human adaptation involves selective perceptual stability amid physiological strain, the study advances the theoretical foundation for physiology-aware yet perception-sensitive building control and redefines the boundary between thermal stress and thermal tolerance in indoor environments.