The individual preferred velocity of stroking touch as a stable measurement

Luong, A.; Bendas, Johanna; Etzi, Roberta; Olausson, Håkan; Croy, Ilona

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.04.022

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…A large overlap was seen between modalities and intensities inducing pain and unpleasantness (Price, ) with no stimuli consistently perceived as unpleasant but not painful. There was no significant difference in pleasantness scores between stroking velocities; however, they did follow an inverted U ‐shape profile peaking at 1–3 cm/s, complement findings from studies from the forearm (Ackerley, Carlsson, et al, ; Jönsson et al, ; Loken et al, ; Luong et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The CT afferent is well established as an unmyelinated, slow conducting nerve fibre that is activated via a low force, slow moving touch (Loken, Evert, & Wessberg, ; Loken, Wessberg, Morrison, McGlone, & Olausson, ) within the range of 1–10 cm/s (Case, Čeko, et al, ; Case, Laubacher, et al, ; Kass‐Iliyya et al, ; Loken et al, , ; Triscoli, Ackerley, & Sailer, ; Triscoli, Olausson, Sailer, Ignell, & Croy, ). This has also been found to correlate with the highest pleasantness ratings best profiled by an inverse U ‐shaped curve of velocity against pleasantness (Ackerley, Carlsson, Wester, Olausson, & Wasling, ; Loken et al, ) and exhibiting a quadratic trend (Ackerley, Carlsson, et al, ; Jönsson et al, ; Loken et al, ; Luong, Bendas, Etzi, Olausson, & Croy, ). As this type of stimulus is commonly experienced in situations of intimate interactions, an association was made with the so‐called emotional touch and the activation of the CT afferents (Olausson, Wessberg, Morrison, McGlone, & Vallbo, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

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Assessment of experimental orofacial pain, pleasantness and unpleasantness via standardized psychophysical testing

Taneja

Olausson

Trulsson

et al. 2019

European Journal of Pain

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Background Somatosensory assessment within the orofacial region may be performed using highly standardized quantitative sensory testing (QST). However, the function of the C‐tactile (CT) afferent, a nerve fibre linked to the perception of pleasant touch, is usually not evaluated. Furthermore, the perception of unpleasantness is also rarely assessed, a dimension not only limited to a painful experience. Therefore, the primary aim was to apply standardized QST stimuli as well as standardized pleasant stimuli and evaluate their potential capacity for evocation of perceived pain, pleasant and unpleasant sensations in the facial region. Methods Twenty‐one female participants underwent QST as per the protocol derived from the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain. For the first time, two modified protocols were used to investigate stimuli for perceived pleasantness and unpleasantness. Results Thermal stimuli provided separate thresholds for each sensation. From certain mechanical stimuli (e.g., vibration), overlap between the perceived sensations of pleasantness and unpleasantness was identified. It was not possible to evoke only an unpleasant sensation without a painful contribution, and both these sensations increased significantly when utilizing an increasing pinprick force (p < 0.011). Between dynamic stimuli, the brush was rated as significantly more pleasant than the cotton wool tip (p = 0.015). A quadratic model provided the best fit for velocity against mean pleasantness ratings (R2 = 0.62 ± 0.08), supporting previous CT afferent literature to some extent. Conclusion Stimuli were generally not isolated to one sensation, highlighting the multidimensional construct of stimulus perception and the need for scales to capture this. Significance The battery of QST tests from the DFNS protocol has been modified to investigate pleasant and unpleasant sensations. This allows the evaluation of psychophysical properties across standardized dimensions to provide a thorough view of somatosensory function and to better understand the affective spectrum of somatosensory function.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Assessment of experimental orofacial pain, pleasantness and unpleasantness via standardized psychophysical testing

Taneja

Olausson

Trulsson

et al. 2019

European Journal of Pain

Self Cite

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“…Rather than being driven strictly by CTs, they must reflect a more general, pathway independent cortical representation of tactile input. This conclusion agrees with past research demonstrating an overlap in higher-order perceptual processes for hairy and glabrous touch (Luong et al, 2017;Pawling et al, 2017). It also converges with findings that apart from pleasure, other psychological properties show a bias for CT optimal velocities including perceived human-likeness (Wijaya et al, 2020) and smoothness (Sailer et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Despite the theoretical divide between affective and discriminative touch, there is some empirical data suggesting that perhaps both systems support tactile pleasure and could serve homeostatic and social functions. For one, recent psychophysical research found that touch to glabrous and hairy skin can be equally pleasurable (Luong et al, 2017; Pawling et al, 2017; Schirmer and Gunter, 2017). CT afferents, as defined by their velocity response curve, have been documented only in hairy skin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discriminative and affective touch converge: Somatosensory cortex represents Aß input in a CT-like manner

Schirmer

Lai

McGlone

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Current theory divides the human mechanical sense into discriminative and affective systems. A discriminative system supports tactile exploration and manipulation via fast A-beta signaling, whereas an affective system supports the pleasure of friendly interpersonal touch via slow CT signaling. To probe this system segregation, we recorded the electroencephalogram from participants being stroked and reporting stroke pleasantness. We observed a somatosensory negativity that was maximal for CT optimal as compared with sub-optimal velocities, that predicted subjective pleasantness, and showed only for stroking of hairy skin known to be CT innervated. Importantly, the latency of this negativity preceded C fiber input to the brain by several hundred milliseconds and is best explained by interactions between CT and A-beta processes in the spinal cord. Our data challenge the divide between discriminative and affective touch implying instead that both fast A-beta and slow CT signaling play an important role in tactile pleasure.

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“…Furthermore, we collected ratings about participants' touch intensity experience at the varying body sites. With these regards, recent evidence suggests subjective evaluations of touch responses, such as intensity ratings, are not velocity specific in the same way as pleasantness ratings [64,65], and that recovered anorexics display lower insular cortex responses during touch anticipation associated with higher perceived touch intensity ratings [36]. Therefore, we collected participants' ratings of touch intensity, to account for potential individual differences in the two aspects of touch (discriminative vs. affective).…”

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confidence: 99%

Topical heterogeneity in affective touch: Does it impact body image?

Cazzato

Sacchetti

Shin

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Recent evidence suggests that altered responses to affective touch - a pleasant interoceptive stimulus associated with activation of the C-Tactile (CT) system, may contribute to the aetiology and maintenance of mental conditions characterised by body image disturbances (e.g., Anorexia Nervosa). Here, we investigated whether tactile pleasantness and intensity differ across body sites, and if individual differences in dysmorphic appearance concerns and body awareness might be associated to touch perceptions across body sites. To this end, we measured perceived pleasantness and intensity of gentle, dynamic stroking touches applied to the palm, forearm, face, abdomen and back of 30 female participants (mean age: 25.87±1.17yrs) using CT-optimal (3 cm/s) and non-CT optimal (0.3 and 30 cm/s) stroking touch. As expected, participants rated CT-targeted touch as more pleasant compared to the two non-CT optimal stroking touch at all body sites. Nevertheless, CT-targeted touch applied to the abdomen elicited the lowest pleasantness ratings compared to all other body sites and to the two non-CT optimal stroking touch. Individual differences in body awareness and dysmorphic concerns significantly predicted preference for CT-optimal over non-CT optimal stroking touch applied to the forearm and the back. These findings begin to elucidate the link between CT sensitivity, dysmorphic appearance concerns and body awareness, which may have implications for future research looking to inform early interventions. Addressing impaired processing of affective interoceptive stimuli, such as CT-targeted touch, may be the key to current treatment approaches available for those populations at risk of disorders characterised by body image disturbance.

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The individual preferred velocity of stroking touch as a stable measurement

Cited by 23 publications

References 31 publications

Assessment of experimental orofacial pain, pleasantness and unpleasantness via standardized psychophysical testing

Assessment of experimental orofacial pain, pleasantness and unpleasantness via standardized psychophysical testing

Discriminative and affective touch converge: Somatosensory cortex represents Aß input in a CT-like manner

Topical heterogeneity in affective touch: Does it impact body image?

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