Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
Published on: March 15, 2019
The affective and cognitive processing of touch, oral texture, and temperature in the brain
1University of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, England, UK. Edmund.Rolls@oxcns.org
Abstract:
Some of the principles of the representation of affective touch in the brain are described. Positively affective touch and temperature are represented in parts of the orbitofrontal and pregenual cingulate cortex. The orbitofrontal cortex is implicated in some of the affective aspects of touch that may be mediated through C fibre touch afferents, in that it is activated more by light touch to the forearm (a source of C-tactile (CT) afferents) than by light touch to the glabrous skin of the hand. Oral somatosensory afferents implicated in sensing the texture of food including fat in the mouth also activate the orbitofrontal and pregenual cingulate cortex, as well as the insular taste cortex. Top-down cognitive modulation of the representation of affective touch produced by word labels is found in parietal cortex area 7, the insula and ventral striatum. The cognitive labels also influence activations to the sight of touch and also the correlations with pleasantness in the pregenual cingulate/orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum.
Related Concept Videos
Somatosensation
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...
Thermosensation
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex
Tactile and Chemical Senses
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

