scholarly journals The role of the amygdala in processing social and affective touch

2022 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 46-53
Author(s):  
Katalin M Gothard ◽  
Andrew J Fuglevand
Keyword(s):  
eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise P Kirsch ◽  
Sahba Besharati ◽  
Christina Papadaki ◽  
Laura Crucianelli ◽  
Sara Bertagnoli ◽  
...  

Specific, peripheral C-tactile afferents contribute to the perception of tactile pleasure, but the brain areas involved in their processing remain debated. We report the first human lesion study on the perception of C-tactile touch in right hemisphere stroke patients (N = 59), revealing that right posterior and anterior insula lesions reduce tactile, contralateral and ipsilateral pleasantness sensitivity, respectively. These findings corroborate previous imaging studies regarding the role of the posterior insula in the perception of affective touch. However, our findings about the crucial role of the anterior insula for ipsilateral affective touch perception open new avenues of enquiry regarding the cortical organization of this tactile system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katalin M Gothard ◽  
Andrew J. Fuglevand

The amygdala plays a central role in socio-emotional behavior, yet its role in processing affective touch is not well established. Longitudinal studies reveal that touch-deprived infants show later in life exaggerated emotional reactivity related to structural and functional changes in the amygdala. The connectivity of the amygdala is well-suited to process the sensory features and the socio-cognitive dimensions of touch. The convergent processing of bottom-up and top-down touch-related inputs in the amygdala triggers autonomic responses. The positive hedonic value of touch in humans and grooming in non-human primates is correlated with vagal tone and the release of oxytocin and endogenous opioids. Grooming reduces vigilance that has been shown to depend critically on the amygdala. Touch-induced vagal tone and lowered vigilance alter neural activity in the amygdala. Under these circumstances neurons no longer respond to each touch stimulus, rather they appear to signal a sustained functional state in which the amygdala appears decoupled from monitoring the external environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 103059
Author(s):  
Mark Carey ◽  
Laura Crucianelli ◽  
Catherine Preston ◽  
Aikaterini Fotopoulou
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Maria Pyasik ◽  
Elisabetta Fortunato ◽  
Olga Dal Monte ◽  
Selene Schintu ◽  
Francesca Garbarini ◽  
...  

AbstractThe social softness illusion (i.e., the tendency to perceive another person's skin as softer than our own) is thought to promote the sharing of social-emotional experiences because of the rewarding properties of receiving and giving social affective touch. Here we investigated whether the ability to distinguish someone else’s body from our own modulates the social softness illusion. In particular, we tested whether the spatial perspective taken by the participants and seeing or not the touched arms could alter this illusion. Pairs of female participants were assigned the roles of either the giver (i.e., delivering the touches) or the receiver (i.e., being touched). We manipulated the location of the touch (palm or forearm), the spatial perspective of the receiver’s body with respect to the giver’s body (egocentric or allocentric perspective), and the vision of the touched body part (the giver could either see both her own and the receiver’s body part, or she was blindfolded). Consistently with previous findings, the skin of another person was perceived as softer than the own one. Additionally, the illusion was present for both the forearm and the palm, and it was stronger in allocentric compared to the egocentric perspective (i.e., when the self-other distinction was clearer). These findings show that the mechanisms underpinning the ability to represent another person’s body as distinct from our own modulates the social softness illusion, and thus support the role of the social softness illusion in fostering social relationships.


JAMA ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 195 (12) ◽  
pp. 1005-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Fernbach
Keyword(s):  

JAMA ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 195 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. E. Van Metre

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnifred R. Louis ◽  
Craig McGarty ◽  
Emma F. Thomas ◽  
Catherine E. Amiot ◽  
Fathali M. Moghaddam

AbstractWhitehouse adapts insights from evolutionary anthropology to interpret extreme self-sacrifice through the concept of identity fusion. The model neglects the role of normative systems in shaping behaviors, especially in relation to violent extremism. In peaceful groups, increasing fusion will actually decrease extremism. Groups collectively appraise threats and opportunities, actively debate action options, and rarely choose violence toward self or others.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Arceneaux

AbstractIntuitions guide decision-making, and looking to the evolutionary history of humans illuminates why some behavioral responses are more intuitive than others. Yet a place remains for cognitive processes to second-guess intuitive responses – that is, to be reflective – and individual differences abound in automatic, intuitive processing as well.


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