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Updated: Mar 6, 2026
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Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
Published on: March 15, 2019
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C-tactile afferent stimulating touch carries a positive affective value
Ralph Pawling1, Peter R Cannon2, Francis P McGlone1,3
1Research Centre for Brain & Behaviour, School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Plos One
|March 11, 2017
Summary
Gentle touch activating C-Tactile afferents (CTs) has a positive affective value. Implicit measures, like smiling muscle activity, confirm this, even when self-reports are vague.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Somatic Sensory System
Background:
- C-Tactile afferents (CTs) are hypothesized to process rewarding touch in social interactions.
- Evidence linking CTs to positive affect in humans is limited, with self-reports showing ambiguity.
- Implicit measures are needed to assess the affective value of CT-optimal touch.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the affective valence of tactile stimulation targeting CTs using implicit measures.
- To compare subjective pleasantness ratings with facial electromyography and heart rate responses.
- To determine if CT activation elicits a measurable positive affective state.
Main Methods:
- Participants received gentle stroking touch at CT-optimal (3cm/sec) and non-optimal (30cm/sec) velocities on the forearm (CT-innervated) and palm (non-CT-innervated).
- Subjective pleasantness, facial muscle activity (zygomaticus major, corrugator supercilii), and heart rate were recorded.
- Implicit affective responses were analyzed alongside explicit pleasantness ratings.
Main Results:
- Slower touch (3cm/sec) was rated as more pleasant and caused greater heart rate deceleration than faster touch (30cm/sec) on both skin sites.
- Neither self-report nor heart rate differentiated between CT-innervated and non-CT-innervated sites.
- Significantly increased zygomaticus major (smiling) muscle activity occurred specifically with CT-optimal stroking on the forearm.
Conclusions:
- Tactile stimulation optimally activating CTs carries a positive affective valence in humans.
- Implicit facial muscle responses provide objective evidence for the positive affect associated with CT activation.
- This study offers the first empirical support for the role of CTs in encoding positive affective value in human touch.
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