Perceived pleasantness of gentle touch in healthy individuals is related to salivary oxytocin response and EEG markers of arousal

Portnova, Galina V.; Проскурнина, Е. В.; Sokolova, Svetlana V.; Skorokhodov, Ivan V.; Varlamov, Anton

doi:10.1007/s00221-020-05891-y

Cited by 36 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…While we did not measure oxytocin in the present study, a meta-analytic study on sex differences in affective touch has demonstrated that women perceive affective touch as significantly more pleasant compared to men [ 40 ]. Moreover, oxytocin has been demonstrated to be directly correlated with the perceived pleasantness of gentle touch [ 41 ]. Therefore, the mutual embrace might have elicited higher levels of perceived pleasantness and thus higher levels of oxytocin release in women compared to men which could explain the observed difference.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men

et al. 2022

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Stress is omnipresent in our everyday lives. It is therefore critical to identify potential stress-buffering behaviors that can help to prevent the negative effects of acute stress in daily life. Massages, a form of social touch, are an effective buffer against both the endocrinological and sympathetic stress response in women. However, for other forms of social touch, potential stress-buffering effects have not been investigated in detail. Furthermore, the possible stress-buffering effects of social touch on men have not been researched so far. The present study focused on embracing, one of the most common forms of social touch across many cultures. We used a short-term embrace between romantic partners as a social touch intervention prior to the induction of acute stress via the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test. Women who embraced their partner prior to being stressed showed a reduced cortisol response compared to a control group in which no embrace occurred. No stress-buffering effect could be observed in men. No differences between the embrace and control group were observed regarding sympathetic nervous system activation measured via blood pressure or subjective affect ratings. These findings suggest that in women, short-term embraces prior to stressful social situations such as examinations or stressful interviews can reduce the cortisol response in that situation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men

et al. 2022

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“…Activation of the endogenous oxytocin system is another strategy. This could be accomplished pharmacologically [ 228 , 229 , 230 ] or behaviorally [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 231 , 232 , 233 , 234 ] by, for example, spontaneous pleasurable emotional experiences such as human-dog interactions, massage, gentle touching, physical running and music therapy [ 235 ]. In addition, effective activation of the endogenous oxytocin system may strengthen the ability of the individual to adapt and facilitate resilience, leading not only to new therapeutics for or ways for preventing life style-related or early life trauma-related diseases, [ 236 , 237 ] but also health promotion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roles of Oxytocin in Stress Responses, Allostasis and Resilience

Takayanagi

Onaka

2021

IJMS

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Oxytocin has been revealed to work for anxiety suppression and anti-stress as well as for psychosocial behavior and reproductive functions. Oxytocin neurons are activated by various stressful stimuli. The oxytocin receptor is widely distributed within the brain, and oxytocin that is released or diffused affects behavioral and neuroendocrine stress responses. On the other hand, there has been an increasing number of reports on the role of oxytocin in allostasis and resilience. It has been shown that oxytocin maintains homeostasis, shifts the set point for adaptation to a changing environment (allostasis) and contributes to recovery from the shifted set point by inducing active coping responses to stressful stimuli (resilience). Recent studies have suggested that oxytocin is also involved in stress-related disorders, and it has been shown in clinical trials that oxytocin provides therapeutic benefits for patients diagnosed with stress-related disorders. This review includes the latest information on the role of oxytocin in stress responses and adaptation.

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“…The tactile stimulation was performed manually by a specially trained clinical psychologist. The experimenter performed the tactile stimulation with a certain pressure and frequency selected from our previous studies (Portnova et al., 2020). Each stroking was performed in smooth back‐and‐forth motion without taking the brush off the participant’s arm during 40–45 s. Each stimulus was presented eight times in a row.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…“Warm” touch enhancement has a beneficial influence on multiple stress‐sensitive systems; it led to increased salivary oxytocin in the intervention group of husbands and wives relative to controls (Holt‐Lunstad et al., 2008). Previously, we have shown that C‐tactile targeted stimulation results in oxytocin release when the touch is perceived at an individual level as having apparently positive affective salience (Portnova et al., 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Touch‐induced emotional comfort results in an increase in the salivary antioxidant potential: A correlational study

2021

Self Cite

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Psychoemotional discomfort results in oxidative stress, as proven by many studies. One of the hypotheses states that this effect is realized through the sympathetic system. For example, acute and chronic emotional distress led to a decrease in the concentration of magnesium, an increase in malondialdehyde, and the depletion of the antioxidant potential in young people stressed by a military situation (Cernak et al., 2000). Increased concentrations of plasma myeloperoxidase, interleukin-6, and salivary cortisol in musicians on the following day of the premiere concert indicate that stress of public performance leads to oxidative stress (Pilger et al., 2014). Acute myocardial infarction in stressed rats (the stress was caused by daylight/darkness exposure, overcrowding, isolation, new hierarchy, tilting the cage, and restriction of water or food) was accompanied by hyperactivation of the sympathetic system, increased malondialdehyde and peroxynitrite, and decreased superoxide dismutase and glutathione (Mercanoglu et al., 2008). Whisker removal-induced

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Perceived pleasantness of gentle touch in healthy individuals is related to salivary oxytocin response and EEG markers of arousal

Cited by 36 publications

References 80 publications

Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men

Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men

Roles of Oxytocin in Stress Responses, Allostasis and Resilience

Touch‐induced emotional comfort results in an increase in the salivary antioxidant potential: A correlational study

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