TOUCH AS IMPORTANT AS FOOD – STUDY

Keep the cuddles coming please, they’re good for my nerves!

Swedish scientists have discovered why being cuddled and stroked feels so nice, and it is all to with the nervous system. In a study published on the New Scientist website, scientists from Sahlgrenska University Hospital found that a woman with no sense of touch, felt good w hen she was stroked – albeit with a paintbrush. Hakan Olausson who headed the study, told the magazine they had discovered the function of a formerly mysterious nerve system called the CT network. “It seems the CT network conveys emotions or a sense of self” she said. It was linked to emotional, hormonal and behavioural responses to tactile stimulation. Dr Olausson stroked the female patient’s arm with a paintbrush to see if she felt anything. The woman had a disorder which left her with no touch fibres in her body below her nose, but she still had CT nerves. Though she could not feel vibrations, tickles or touch, she felt “pleasant” when the paintbrush caressed her. MRI scans revealed the stroking activated a part of her brain associated with emotional response.

Touch is considered to be as important as food. Babies deprived of touch, but given food can die because of lack of stimulation. Particularly, human touch, stimulates the feel good hormones in people. Studies have shown it also boosts the immune system.

New Zealand had a non touch culture, which led to depression in adults. The most touch deprived people are the older people, they are hardly ever touched and they go into depression because of that. Lecturer in physiology and cell biology at Victoria University, Dr John Miller, said it was a new idea that someone could sense touch without feeling it directly.
 

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