Article
Neurosciences
Laura K. Case, Jaquette Liljencrantz, Micaela V. McCall, Megan Bradson, Aaron Necaise, Justin Tubbs, Hakan Olausson, Binquan Wang, M. Catherine Bushnell
Summary: This paper examines the research on pleasant touch, focusing on the C-tactile pathway for gentle stroking and introducing deep pressure as another important form of social touch. Utilizing the oscillating compression sleeve (OCS) to administer deep pressure, the study demonstrates that this touch is perceived as pleasant and calming, and activates brain regions similar to C-tactile stroking. The findings suggest that deep pressure constitutes another social touch pathway of evolutionary importance signaling close proximity of conspecifics.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Benlong Liu, Lina Qiao, Kun Liu, Juan Liu, Tyler J. Piccinni-Ash, Zhou-Feng Chen
Summary: Pleasant touch provides emotional and psychological support, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study found that the lack of certain genes in mice leads to impairments in stress response and prosocial behaviors. Additionally, specific neurons were found to respond most strongly to gentle stroking and encode reward value.
Article
Neurosciences
Paula D. Trotter, Sharon A. Smith, David J. Moore, Noreen O'Sullivan, Martyn M. McFarquhar, Francis P. McGlone, Susannah C. Walker
Summary: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of acutely lowering central serotonin levels on perceptions of affective touch. The results showed that after lowering serotonin levels, participants rated affective touch as more pleasant and had increased discrimination of specific velocities that target CT fibers. However, lowered serotonin levels had no effect on tactile or cold pain thresholds, but there was a trend for reduced tolerance to cold pain.
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Social
Annett Schirmer, Clare Cham, Zihao Zhao, Ilona Croy
Summary: This study examined how touch role and culture influence affective touch experiences. Germans and Chinese participants were surveyed and provided descriptions of what prompts touch, indicated with whom touch feels comfortable, and highlighted areas of touch comfort on a body outline. The findings showed that touch is mainly prompted by affectionate feelings, is more comfortable with close individuals, and is most comfortable when directed at the upper arms, shoulders, and upper back. Touch role also had an impact, with touchees feeling less positive than touchers. Cultural differences were found in touch comfort, with Germans feeling more comfortable with intimate touch to the torso and upper back, and less comfortable with public touch to the hands. However, overall there was more overlap than divergence, ensuring mutual comfort during physical connections.
PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Annett Schirmer, Ilona Croy, Rochelle Ackerley
Summary: This article summarizes the research history of low-threshold C-fiber mechanoreceptors and the study of C-tactile (CT) afferents in human affective touch. It discusses the differentiation between affective touch and discriminative touch, challenges traditional views on the relation between CTs and affective touch, and speculates on the relevance of underappreciated aspects of CT signaling in human physical and emotional connections.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Annett Schirmer, Man Hey Chiu, Ilona Croy
Summary: The study reveals that different touch actions have unique somatosensory topographies, as well as distinct differences in emotional context, comfort, and frequency. Therefore, affectionate touch actions are not redundant, but highly differentiated in terms of somatosensory and socioaffective processes.
Review
Psychology, Experimental
Pankaj Taneja, Hakan Olausson, Mats Trulsson, Peter Svensson, Lene Baad-Hansen
Summary: Pleasantness is often overlooked in the investigation of tactile functions, but this study found that factors like texture, velocity, force, and duration of stroking can influence tactile evoked pleasantness. Using soft materials and stroking at 3 cm/s is generally considered particularly pleasant. The results of this study can be important for studies requiring a well-defined pleasant stimulus.
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Tomoki Ishikura, Yuki Kitamura, Wataru Sato, Jun Takamatsu, Akishige Yuguchi, Sung-Gwi Cho, Ming Ding, Sakiko Yoshikawa, Tsukasa Ogasawara
Summary: Pleasant touching is an important aspect of social interactions and previous research has attempted to develop robots that can provide this kind of touch. This study compared the effect of different stroke speeds on human participants' emotional responses to human and robot agents. The results showed that a speed of 8.5 cm/s was more pleasant and arousing for both human and robot strokes compared to a speed of 2.6 cm/s.
Article
Neurosciences
Mary H. Burleson, Karen S. Quigley
Summary: The article compares the role of interoceptive signals in emotional experiences according to the SAME and TCE theories, highlighting the potential impact of social interoceptive input on emotion-related effects and the utility of CT-optimal touch in understanding basic interoceptive mechanisms.
SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Jessica Henderson, Tyler Mari, Danielle Hewitt, Alice Newton-Fenner, Andrew Hopkinson, Timo Giesbrecht, Alan Marshall, Andrej Stancak, Nicholas Fallon
Summary: This study investigated the cortical oscillatory changes during active touch and found that exploration of rough textures increased alpha-band event-related desynchronisation in contralateral sensorimotor areas. The processing of less preferred textures resulted in an increase in temporoparietal beta-band and frontal alpha-band event-related desynchronisation, indicating the involvement of higher order brain regions in the hedonic processing of texture. Overall, this study provides novel insights into the neural mechanisms underlying texture perception during active touch and the influence of cognitive tasks.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Chiara Spaccasassi, Ivana Frigione, Angelo Maravita
Summary: Affective touch can have a significant impact on human behavior, however, current research results in this area are inconsistent and there is a lack of clues about the relationship between affective touch and the space around our body. Two separate experiments did not show any modulation of body representation or visuo-tactile spatial processing depending on the pleasantness of the touch received, suggesting a need for further understanding of the effects of affective touch on body/space representation.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Tara Kidd, Shaunna L. Devine, Susannah C. Walker
Summary: This article reviews the association between stress and health and proposes social touch, specifically affective touch, as a crucial factor in understanding how close relationships contribute to stress and health. It provides empirical evidence on the importance of affective touch in the development of stress systems and social relationships.
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Isabella Pueschel, Joerg Reichert, Yvonne Friedrich, Joerg Bergander, Kerstin Weidner, Ilona Croy
Summary: Maternal stroking touch stimulates C-tactile afferents in preterm infants and leads to a decrease in heart rate. However, the CT system in preterm infants is not yet mature, and less mature preterm infants benefit less from stroking.
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Annett Schirmer, Clare Cham, Zihao Zhao, Oscar Lai, Clive Lo, Ilona Croy
Summary: These two studies found that men and women have similar sensory pleasantness in touch, but differ in their preceding affective experiences and how they value touch at a higher-order social level. Women are more likely to express touch comfort with less familiar or unknown individuals, have a greater preference for touch with other women, and feel more comfortable giving and receiving touch to the forearm.
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Michael Schaefer, Anja Kuehnel, Franziska Rumpel, Matti Gaertner
Summary: Giving and receiving touch are important social stimuli in daily life. Previous studies have shown that touch can influence altruistic behavior. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural mechanisms behind the Midas touch effect. The researchers found that touching the hand increased prosocial behavior, and this effect was associated with activity in the primary somatosensory cortex.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Naomi Fisher, Paul Lattimore, Peter Malinowski
Article
Neurosciences
Han-Gue Jo, Peter Malinowski, Stefan Schmidt
FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE
(2017)
Article
Psychiatry
Paul Lattimore, Bethan R. Mead, Leanne Irwin, Lorna Grice, Ruth Carson, Peter Malinowski
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
(2017)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Benjamin Schoene, Thomas Gruber, Sebastian Graetz, Martin Bernhof, Peter Malinowski
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2018)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
J. Schneider, P. Malinowski, P. M. Watson, P. Lattimore
Review
Clinical Neurology
Funda Akkus, Sylvia Terbeck, Connor J. Haggarty, Valerie Treyer, Janan J. Dietrich, Stefanie Hornschuh, Gregor Hasler
Summary: This review summarizes the potential involvement of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) in nicotine addiction development, highlighting its key role in nicotine addiction and withdrawal processes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Connor J. Haggarty, David J. Moore, Paula D. Trotter, Rachel Hagan, Francis P. McGlone, Susannah C. Walker
Summary: The study found that individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions may have sensitivities to light touch. Adults with high AQ scores rated stroking touch on the palm as less pleasant than those with low AQ scores, while there was no effect of autism diagnosis on children's touch ratings. These results are discussed in terms of underlying sensory and cognitive factors.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Jamie L. Tully, Amelia D. Dahlen, Connor J. Haggarty, Helgi B. Schioth, Samantha Brooks
Summary: There is a growing interest in the psychiatric properties of ketamine, a dissociative anaesthetic, due to its fast-acting mood-enhancing and anxiolytic effects. These effects persist even after the main psychoactive symptoms have diminished, making ketamine a potential treatment for refractory anxiety disorders. Ketamine acts as a noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor, which is responsible for its pain relief and anaesthetic effects. However, the role of NMDA receptors in anxiety reduction is still not well understood. This systematic review examines the evidence of ketamine's significant reduction of refractory anxiety and discusses the possible involvement of NMDA receptor antagonism and other receptors. The review also highlights the temporary nature of the anxiolytic effects and the discrepancies in study designs regarding administration routes, complementary treatments, and other factors.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Emily E. Jackson, Francis P. McGlone, Connor J. Haggarty
Summary: Research in the mid-20th century suggested that unloving and neglectful care hampers infant development. Recent studies have shown the positive effects of early touch exposure on infant development. This paper focuses on the link between a lack of early nurturing touch and the development of autism-like phenotypes, proposing that avoidant attachment and touch deprivation play a central role.
CURRENT OPINION IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Connor J. Haggarty, Paula D. Trotter, Francis McGlone, Susannah C. Walker
Summary: The study suggests that children's vicarious ratings of affective touch differ from those of adults, as adults' ratings may also include cognitive evaluation of the broader social context.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Naomi R. Fisher, Bethan R. Mead, Paul Lattimore, Peter Malinowski
Article
Neurosciences
Peter Malinowski, Liliana Shalamanova
JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT
(2017)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Peter Malinowski, Adam W. Moore, Bethan R. Mead, Thomas Gruber