Posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus Responses Predict Perceived Pleasantness of Skin Stroking

Abstract

Love and affection is expressed through a range of physically intimate gestures, including caresses. Recent studies suggest that posterior temporal lobe areas typically associated with visual processing of social cues also respond to interpersonal touch. Here, we asked whether these areas are selective to caress-like skin stroking. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 23 healthy participants and compared brain responses to skin stroking and vibration. We did not find any significant differences between stroking and vibration in the posterior temporal lobe; however, right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) responses predicted healthy participant’s perceived pleasantness of skin stroking, but not vibration. These findings link right pSTS responses to individual variability in perceived pleasantness of caress-like tactile stimuli. We speculate that the right pSTS may play a role in the translation of tactile stimuli into positively valenced, socially relevant interpersonal touch and that this system may be affected in disorders associated with impaired attachment.

Touch aversion in patients with interpersonal traumatization

“…It seems plausible that this area which tracks social perception (Schirmer & Adolphs, 2017;Uddin et al, 2007) is more alert in those individuals who made traumatic experiences to interpersonal touch. STG activation is known to correlate with the pleasantness of touch (Davidovic et al, 2016). As our study included participants who strongly disliked touch, we were able to extend this finding and observed a u-shaped relation between STG activation and pleasantness ratings, with the smallest activation in those participants who rated the touch rather neutral.…”

“…W. Olausson et al, 2008). In addition, such touch is processed in the superior temporal gyrus (STG; Davidovic, Jönsson, Olausson, & Björnsdotter, 2016;Gordon et al, 2013;Sailer et al, 2016), an area involved in social processing and cognition (Uddin, Iacoboni, Lange, & Keenan, 2007), which integrates multimodal social information (Schirmer & Adolphs, 2017). STG activation predicts for instance, how pleasant healthy participants rate stroking (Davidovic et al, 2016).…”

Longitudinal relationships among depressive symptoms, cortisol, and brain atrophy in the neocortex and the hippocampus

“…All the depression‐related regions observed in our study are engaged during processing of familiar faces and voices, especially of significant others . STC is also activated by a gentle touch . The authors suggest that this region may play a role in the translation of stimuli into positive and socially relevant.…”

Infant Analgesia With a Combination of Breast Milk, Glucose, or Maternal Holding

“…22 Interestingly, in adults, the right-posterior-superiortemporal sulcus was identified as a region that mediates the translation of tactile stimuli into positive and socially relevant interpersonal touch. 40 Although NIRS scores cannot match the spatial resolution of fMRIs, it is worth noting that this area is located in close proximity to the right-posterior cortex, which we found became activated during breastfeeding. We speculate that this process might also occur in breastfed newborns.…”