Touch plays a significant role in human social behavior and social communication, and its
rewarding nature has been suggested to involve opioids. Opioid blockade in monkeys leads …

The μ-opioid receptor (MOR) system has long been thought to underpin the rewarding
properties of pleasant touch. Numerous non-human animal studies implicate MORs in social …

Pleasant touch sensations may begin with neural coding in the periphery by specific
afferents. We found that during soft brush stroking, low-threshold unmyelinated …

This mini-review covers recent works on the study of pleasant touch in patients with chronic
pain and its potential use as a treatment. While experiments have demonstrated that …

Consoling touch is a powerful form of social support that has been repeatedly demonstrated
to reduce the experience of physical pain. However, it remains unknown whether touch …

Endogenous opioids mediate the pleasurable responses to positively reinforcing stimuli
such as palatable food. Yet, the reduction or omission of a negative experience can also be …

Social touch is important for interpersonal interaction. Gentle touch and slow brushing are
typically perceived as pleasant, the degree of pleasantness is linked to the activity of the C …

Aims Non-nociceptive somatosensory input, such as tactile or proprioceptive information,
alway precedes nociceptive input during a painful event. This relationship provides clear …

Inter-individual touch can be a desirable reward that can both relieve negative affect and
evoke strong feelings of pleasure. However, if other sensory cues indicate it is undesirable …

Habituation to repetitive painful stimulation may represent an important protection
mechanism against the development of chronic pain states. However, the exact …