Hey you, yes you!
Do you know you can speak in another language?
The universal language of touch.
Hey everyone - Julia here for DNews.
Humans are social animals.
We thrive best when we can communicate with others effectively.
One of the most underrated tools in our talking toolkit, non-verbal communication, particularly
touching.
Whether it’s a slap on the butt in the locker room, a hug from a friend, or flirtatious
touch on the arm we say a lot without uttering a word.
Psychologist Matthew Hertenstein from DePauw University asked participants to judge the
emotion from a stranger that they couldn’t see, but they could touch.
Participants correctly identified emotions like, anger, disgust, happiness and others
75% of the time!
But what is it about touch that means so much?
Let’s start where touch begins, in our nerves.
Feelings of touch originate from nerve fibers in our skin.
There’s two kinds of nerves, fast and slow.
Slow nerve fibers send signals to the insular cortex which also processes taste, pain, and
emotion.
These unmyelinated fibers convey sensations like deep pain, temperature and pleasant touch.
These nerve cells called C tactile (CT) afferents, stir up emotions from a single touch.
They’re found only in our “hairy” skin like thighs and forearms.
Scientists know that animals like cats and dogs have these nerves but for a long time
thought we lost them when we lost a lot of our body hair.
However, researcher Francis Mcglone, thinks these cells developed huge importance for
grooming behaviors.
So touch is important and feels nice, but why?
Touch triggers the release of oxytocin, a feel good, bonding hormone.
not only does it bond, but it relaxes us too.
Couples who hug each other regularly have more oxytocin in their blood and report feeling
less stressed.
Certain kinds of touch signal cooperation and trust.
A reassuring hand of the forearm or shoulder for example.
The pressure on pressure sensors in your skin called Pacinian corpuscles, stimulates a part
of your brain called the vagus nerve which relaxes you by slowing your heart down and
decreasing blood pressure.
Maternal touching has been shown to be hugely important to development and bonding.
In the infamous Rhesus monkeys study of the 50s, researchers replaced monkey moms with
dummys.
One dummy was made with wire but had a bottle, the other was made with terry cloth but had
no bottle.
The monkeys above and beyond prefered the “contact comfort” provide by the terry
cloth mom.
The monkeys would literally starve, because they choose the safety and “warmth” of
their “mother” over the wire dummy with food.
While you could never do a study like that with humans, there have been studies shown
that babies born prematurely do better when held by their parents for a few hours a day
than those just keep in an incubator.
Other studies show that babies held awkwardly or reluctantly had less attachment than those
who were held in a more nurturing way.
Babies held securely and frequently showed superior cognitive development up to 8 years
later.
Touching increases not just strong mother-and-child bonds, but even weaker social bonds.
Teammates who support each other through high fives or slaps on the back create better teams,
even factoring for things like salary and performance.
Another example, if a waiter lightly touches your arm or shoulder, you’re more likely
to give them a higher tip.
These of course are all socially acceptable situations.
Inappropriate touching from creepers is a whole different ball game and perhaps the
topic of a different episode in the future.
Speaking of touch, our friends over at BuzzFeedBlue have a related video - 4 Touch Tricks that
Feel Like Magic!
Check it out