| Touch 101 Touch is an essential part of the human experience, used to establish connections and convey support, affection, sympathy, reassurance, and love. Research has provided scientific backing for the idea that consensual touch provides numerous health benefits through every stage of life. Humans’ relationship with touch begins early: It’s the first sense to develop during gestation, at around eight weeks. When we perceive touch, that information is first sent to the thalamus and then onward to the primary somatosensory cortex, which encodes the physical properties of touch. Touch also activates the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex—the area of the brain associated with feelings of reward, compassion, and impulse control—which helps us determine whether the touch was pleasant or unpleasant and gauge how to respond. The identity of the toucher matters for newborns, with the greatest soothing benefit coming from a parental touch. But touch studies suggest that—for adults—the frequency of consensual touchmatters more than who is doing the touching. Even nonhuman forms of touch, like experiencing a weighted blanket, or perhaps eventually robotic touch, could hold promise. |
