Date available: Monday 22nd February 2021 to Monday 31st May 2021
Date of first showing: Thursday 4th March 2021
The power of caresses: touch, a vital contact
We are social animals and physical contact is a vital need: the "language" of touch, which we cultivate from birth, is essential for good physical, immune system, and cerebral development. How do massages, caresses, and other affective contacts influence our health?
International teams of researchers have investigated this question by studying how the nervous system converts a gesture into a pleasant sensation, by exploring the social function of touch. This programme explores different facets of this sense, which is crucial for emotional balance, as the psychological consequences of the distance between individuals imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic unfold.
Rochelle Ackerley of the LNC talks about her research in this documentary and explains emotional touch. She uses a specific technique, "microneurography", where it is possible to listen to and record the responses of neurons in a peripheral nerve in humans. Using this approach, she has shown how receptors in the skin are activated by caresses.
To watch this film, click here.
