Interpersonal stroking touch is targeted to C tactile afferent activation

Croy, Ilona; Luong, A.; Triscoli, Chantal; Hofmann, Evelyn; Olausson, Håkan; Sailer, Uta

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2015.09.038

Cited by 156 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…In the following experiment, to disentangle some of these possibilities, as well as to address our hypotheses regarding the role of cardiac awareness and affective touch to multisensory integration and body ownership (see Introduction), we tested the perception of a third tactile velocity, namely 9 cm/s. This velocity is within the CT-optimal range, but nevertheless is not typically perceived as maximally pleasant and it is used less spontaneously in intimate social interactions (Croy, Luong, Triscoli, Hofmann, Olausson et al, 2016).…”

Section: 4experiments 1 Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interoceptive ingredients of body ownership: Affective touch and cardiac awareness in the rubber hand illusion

Crucianelli

Krahé

Jenkinson

et al. 2018

Cortex

146

139

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Section: 4experiments 1 Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interoceptive ingredients of body ownership: Affective touch and cardiac awareness in the rubber hand illusion

Crucianelli

Krahé

Jenkinson

et al. 2018

Cortex

146

139

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“…A recent meta-analysis identified the right posterior insula as a structure that is more frequently activated by pleasurable as compared to neutral touch [60, Figure 2]. Studies focusing specifically on the CT system additionally highlight the right posterior STS [61–63] and somewhat less consistently the right orbito-frontal [64–66] and pre-motor/motor areas [62,65,67]. There is some evidence that primary somatosensory cortex contributes to the pleasure from touch: a caress activates this region differentially depending on whether participants believe it to come from a person of the same or the opposite sex [68].…”

Section: Neural Systems For Perceiving Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion Perception from Face, Voice, and Touch: Comparisons and Convergence

Schirmer

Adolphs

2017

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

307

189

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Historically, research on emotion perception has focused on facial expressions, and findings from this modality have come to dominate our thinking about other modalities. Here, we examine emotion perception through a wider lens by comparing facial with vocal and tactile processing. We review stimulus characteristics and ensuing behavioral and brain responses, and show that audition and touch do not simply duplicate visual mechanisms. Each modality provides a distinct input channel and engages partly non-overlapping neuroanatomical systems with different processing specializations (e.g., specific emotions versus affect). Moreover, processing of signals across the different modalities converges, first into multi- and later into amodal representations that enable holistic emotion judgments.

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“…Firstly, it is available when the mother is holding her infant. Secondly, it is one of the sites where the presence of CT afferents have been confirmed, and thirdly, it is commonly used in studies of affective touch (Ackerley et al, 2014;Bj€ ornsdotter et al, 2014;Croy et al, 2016;Kaiser et al, 2015;L€ oken et al, 2009). The stimuli were administered in 2-s epochs in a randomized counterbalanced order.…”

Section: Tactile Stimulation and Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affective and non-affective touch evoke differential brain responses in 2-month-old infants

et al. 2018

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A B S T R A C TCaressing touch is an effective way to communicate emotions and to create social bonds. It is also one of the key mediators of early parental bonding. The caresses are generally thought to represent a social form of touching and indeed, slow, gentle brushing is encoded in specialized peripheral nerve fibers, the C-tactile (CT) afferents. In adults, areas such as the posterior insula and superior temporal sulcus are activated by affective, slow stroking touch but not by fast stroking stimulation. However, whether these areas are activated in infants, after social tactile stimulation, is unknown.In this study, we compared the total hemoglobin responses measured with diffuse optical tomography (DOT) in the left hemisphere following slow and fast stroking touch stimulation in 16 2-month-old infants. We compared slow stroking (optimal CT afferent stimulation) to fast stroking (non-optimal CT stimulation). Activated regions were delineated using two methods: one based on contrast between the two conditions, and the other based on voxel-based statistical significance of the difference between the two conditions. The first method showed a single activation cluster in the temporal cortex with center of gravity in the middle temporal gyrus where the total hemoglobin increased after the slow stroking relative to the fast stroking (p ¼ 0.04 uncorrected). The second method revealed a cluster in the insula with an increase in total hemoglobin in the insular cortex in response to slow stroking relative to fast stroking (p ¼ 0.0005 uncorrected; p ¼ 0.04 corrected for multiple comparisons).These activation clusters encompass areas that are involved in processing of affective, slow stroking touch in the adult brain. We conclude that the infant brain shows a pronounced and adult-like response to slow stroking touch compared to fast stroking touch in the insular cortex but the expected response in the primary somatosensory cortex was not found at this age. The results imply that emotionally valent touch is encoded in the brain in adult-like manner already soon after birth and this suggests a potential for involvement of touch in bonding with the caretaker.

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Interpersonal stroking touch is targeted to C tactile afferent activation

Cited by 156 publications

References 11 publications

Interoceptive ingredients of body ownership: Affective touch and cardiac awareness in the rubber hand illusion

Interoceptive ingredients of body ownership: Affective touch and cardiac awareness in the rubber hand illusion

Emotion Perception from Face, Voice, and Touch: Comparisons and Convergence

Affective and non-affective touch evoke differential brain responses in 2-month-old infants

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