What is the significance of a touch encoded by slow-conducted unmyelinated C-tactile (CT) fibers? It is the so-called affiliative touch, which has a fundamental social impact. In humans, it has been demonstrated that the affiliative valence of this kind of touch is encoded by a dedicated central network, not involved in the encoding of discriminative touch, namely, the "social brain". Moreover, CT-related touch has significant consequences on the human autonomic system, not present in the case of discriminative touch, which does not involve CT fibers as the modulation of vagal tone. In addition, CT-related touch provokes central effects as well. An interesting finding is that CT-related touch can elicit "mirror-like responses" since there is evidence that we would have the same perception of a caress regardless of whether it would be felt or seen and that the same brain areas would be activated. Information from CT afferents in the posterior insular cortex likely provides a basis for encoding observed caresses. We also explored the application of this kind of touch in unphysiological conditions and in premature newborns. In the present literature review, we aim to (1) examine the effects of CT-related touch at autonomic and central levels and (2) highlight CT-related touch and mirror networks, seeking to draw a line of connection between them. Finally, the review aims to give an overview of the involvement of the CT system in some neurologic and psychiatric diseases.
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Social Touch: Its Mirror-like Responses and Implications in Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases.
NeuroSci
June 2023
Centro Cardinal Ferrari, 43012 Fontanellato, Italy.
What is the significance of a touch encoded by slow-conducted unmyelinated C-tactile (CT) fibers? It is the so-called affiliative touch, which has a fundamental social impact. In humans, it has been demonstrated that the affiliative valence of this kind of touch is encoded by a dedicated central network, not involved in the encoding of discriminative touch, namely, the "social brain". Moreover, CT-related touch has significant consequences on the human autonomic system, not present in the case of discriminative touch, which does not involve CT fibers as the modulation of vagal tone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF[Application of esophageal CT to establish the evaluation model of foreign body position in rigid esophagoscopic surgery].
Lin Chuang Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssociation of Childhood Maltreatment With Interpersonal Distance and Social Touch Preferences in Adulthood.
Am J Psychiatry
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Division of Medical Psychology (Maier, Gieling, Heinen-Ludwig, Stefan, Hurlemann, Scheele), Center for Economics and Neuroscience (Schultz), and Department of Psychiatry (Hurlemann), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Department of Psychology, Laboratory for Biological Psychology, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany (Güntürkün); Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute and Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (Becker); and Department of Psychiatry, University of Oldenburg Medical Campus, Bad Zwischenahn, Germany (Hurlemann).
Objective: Childhood maltreatment is a major risk factor for psychopathology associated with interpersonal problems in adulthood, but the etiological pathways involved are still unclear. The authors propose that childhood maltreatment confers risk for dysfunctional behavior in social interactions by altering interpersonal distance preference and the processing of social touch.
Methods: Ninety-two medication-free adults (64 of them female) with low, medium, and high levels of childhood maltreatment were tested with an interpersonal distance paradigm and subsequently underwent a social touch functional MRI task during which they rated the perceived comfort of slow touch (C-tactile [CT] optimal speed; 5 cm/s) and fast touch (non-CT-optimal speed; 20 cm/s).
Slow brushing reduces heat pain in humans.
Eur J Pain
August 2017
Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Background: C-tactile (CT) afferents are unmyelinated low-threshold mechanoreceptors optimized for signalling affective, gentle touch. In three separate psychophysical experiments, we examined the contribution of CT afferents to pain modulation.
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Vicarious responses to social touch in posterior insular cortex are tuned to pleasant caressing speeds.
J Neurosci
June 2011
Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, S-413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Background: Affective touch carries strong significance for social mammals, including humans. Gentle, dynamic touch of a kind that occurs during social interactions is preferentially encoded by a distinct neural pathway involving tactile C (CT) afferents, a type of unmyelinated afferent nerve found exclusively in hairy skin. CT afferents increase firing when the skin is stroked at a pleasant, caress-like speed of ∼3 cm/s, and their discharge frequency correlates with the subjective hedonic experience of the caress.
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