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touch

·November 4, 2024·7 min read

16 Nerve Cell Types Identified in Human Touch

Researchers identified 16 distinct types of nerve cells involved in human touch and compared them with those in mice and macaques, showing both shared and unique traits. The study reveals unexpected complexities in how nerve cells respond to stimuli, suggesting a sensory system that integrates multiple types of sensations.

This shows emoji faces and a person's hand.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·June 12, 2024·4 min read

Tactile Emoticons Boost Social Media Communication

Incorporating tactile emoticons into social media interactions enhances feelings of support and approval. Participants using a mock platform preferred receiving feedback through both visual and tactile cues over visual-only feedback. Tactile feedback, such as a stroke on the forearm, conveyed additional emotional context. The findings suggest touch can improve digital communication, informing future technology developments.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 8, 2024·6 min read

Healing Touch: Mental Health Improved with Touch Intervention

Touch interventions significantly benefit both physical and mental health, with particular advantages for individuals facing health challenges. The study, aggregating hundreds of individual studies, demonstrates that the nature of the touch, the person providing it, or the duration matters less than the frequency, suggesting even brief interactions like hugs can be profoundly impactful.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 13, 2024·4 min read

Touch and See: Unlocking Early Self-Recognition in Toddlers

A new study reveals the role of touch in early self-recognition among toddlers. By using vibrating discs to encourage babies to touch their faces, researchers found these children developed self-awareness earlier than their peers.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 27, 2023·5 min read

Hair Follicles’ Hidden Role in Touch Sensation

A new study uncovered a previously unknown mechanism in hair follicles that allows us to detect touch. Previously, sensation was attributed only to nerve endings in the skin, but this study reveals that cells within hair follicles can also sense touch.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 23, 2023·8 min read

Origins of Pleasurable Touch Traced From Skin to Brain

Study reveals a skin-to-brain neural circuit that responds to rewarding forms of social touch. Researchers say the findings could provide an avenue for harnessing the power of touch to assist in treating social and emotional disorders.

Featured Neuroscience Pain

·December 2, 2022·5 min read

How Touch Dampens the Brain’s Response to Painful Stimuli

A simple act such as rubbing your temples when you have a headache can help to alleviate pain. Researchers say this is because pain-responsive neurons in the brain quiet down when these neurons also receive touch input.

This shows a mouse grooming another mouse

Featured Neuroscience

·April 28, 2022·5 min read

Neural Pathway Key to Sensation of Pleasant Touch Identified

Researchers have identified a specific neural circuit and neuropeptide responsible for relaying the sensation of a pleasant touch from the skin to the brain.

This shows someone handing over a gift box

Featured Neuroscience

·April 7, 2022·3 min read

What Shaking a Container Can Teach Us About Touch

Study sheds light on the human ability to understand how an object moves inside a container, revealing how different kinds of information can be conveyed via the sense of touch.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·February 23, 2022·6 min read

Gene Allowing Humans to Feel Touch May Play a Role in Sense of Smell

A gene commonly associated with the sense of touch may also play an important role in the sense of smell, researchers report.

This shows the structure of Flycatcher1, the protein discussed in the article

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·February 17, 2022·5 min read

Scientists Reveal How Venus Fly Traps Snaps Shut

Researchers have revealed the 3d structure of the Flycatcher1 protein channel which enables the Venus flytrap to close in response to prey. The findings shed light on how other mechanosensitive ion channels may operate in other plants, bacteria, and the human body.