touch

Touch, whether loving or hurtful, is one of the most impactful experiences to the nervous system of a human.

Within the first three weeks of conception, the brain, skin, and nervous system arise from the same embryonic tissue, the ectoderm, forming an inherent interdependence between the sensation and perception of touch, belonging, and safety as the rest of the fetus develops . By birth the skin has encapsulated elaborate neuroendocrine networks, protecting the body from trauma and infection, allowing for thermoregulation, conveying nonverbal communication, and being our most extensive sensory organ. The skin is densely filled with nerve endings that react to heat, texture, velocity, pressure, tissue injury, and vibration . Although the skin has many functions to our survival, it also enables one of our most primal desires, and arguably necessities, touch.

As mammals we have a primordial need for social connection and belonging. Through affective touch we can convey powerful emotions, establishing belonging, love, comfort, connection, and relaxation. We instinctively offer touch to ourselves and others in response to pain, rubbing bumps, scrapes, and bruises, placing a hand on a nauseous stomach or throbbing headache. We seek massages from others to relax and relieve tension. We comfort loved ones with deep embraces and slow stroking movements. Without realizing it, we are stimulating specialized C-tactile fibers that only respond to slow, affective tactile stimulus. C-tactile fibers interact with neural regions involved in our perception of happiness, social bonding, pleasurable, and rewarding stimuli, factors that have great influence over positive childhood development and individual wellbeing, regardless of age.

Conversely, a lack of affective touch, as seen in societies like the United States that regard children with less physical interaction and affection, or in households of physical neglect or abuse, adolescents tend to exhibit greater engagement in violence, crime, and risk seeking behavior (drugs, sex, stunts) than those of affective upbringings or societies . Children who are raised with affective touch exhibit greater control of emotion, are less impulsive, and speak and act with more kindness towards others . The differences in these responses are partially tied to positive neural connections and subsequent neurohormonal balances. Because stress is initiated by a perceived or actual threat to wellbeing, abusive and neglectful upbringings threaten one’s wellbeing, initiating the stress response as a protective mechanism. However, even in those that suffer from trauma, sympathetic states are not permanent, relaxation and affective touch offer an access point to influence internal states, restore balance, and heal.

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