Neuroscience

Neurons that respond to touch are less picky than expected

Researchers used to believe that individual primary touch-sensitive neatly responded to specific types of touch. Now a Northwestern University study finds that touch-sensitive neurons communicate touch in a much messier and ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Four health benefits of hugs—and why they feel so good

For many people, the thing they've missed most during the pandemic is being able to hug loved ones. Indeed, it wasn't until we lost our ability to hug friends and family did many realise just how important touch is for many ...

Health

Study examines how nurses view touch as a form of care

Touching patients while providing care is an important and unavoidable aspect of the nursing profession. Nurses can also transform touch into a useful therapeutic tool to improve patients'— and their own—wellbeing.

Neuroscience

Fingerprints enhance our sense of touch

Fingerprints may be more useful to us than helping us nab criminal suspects: they also improve our sense of touch. Sensory neurons in the finger can detect touch on the scale of a single fingerprint ridge, according to new ...

Neuroscience

Chinese spice helps unravel the mysteries of human touch

New insight into how human brains detect and perceive different types of touch, such as fluttery vibrations and steady pressures, has been revealed by UCL scientists with the help of the ancient Chinese cooking ingredient, ...

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