Potential causes of cold hypersensitivity. ‘Feeling’ the ambient temperature is a key part of how our body maintains its temperature. However, some people are hypersensitive to cold, meaning they feel cold even when the ambient temperature is normal. Beyond being distressing, cold hypersensitivity is associated with insomnia and edema, as well as chronic conditions like migraines and rheumatic diseases. One possible cause of cold hypersensitivity could be psychological factors that spill over into physical symptoms, called somatic burden, or there may be a genetic component. To learn more, researchers recently used data from a Japanese personal genome service called MYCODE, and asked volunteers who use the service, over 1000 adult women, to fill out surveys to assess their cold sensitivity and somatic load. Over half of the participants reported cold sensitivity, and higher cold sensitivity corresponded with higher somatic load scores. The researchers also identified 11 possible genetic variants associated with cold hypersensitivity. Based on data from a gene expression database, some of the variant genes had notable changes in expression in various tissues. While more research is needed, these findings shed light on several of the possible underlying causes of cold hypersensitivity.