Defining pleasant touch stimuli: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychophysics
• Somatosensory Science

Background:

• Pleasantness is often overlooked in tactile function studies.
• Incorporating pleasant stimuli enhances somatosensory function characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

• Systematically review methods for eliciting pleasant tactile sensations.
• Conduct a meta-analysis on brush stroking velocity's effect on touch pleasantness.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 18 studies.
• Meta-analysis of 5 studies focusing on brush stroking velocity.
• Psychophysical techniques for measuring pleasantness.

Main Results:

• Tactile pleasantness is influenced by texture, velocity, force, and stroking duration.
• Soft materials, light force, and 3 cm/s velocity yield the most pleasant sensations.
• Slower brush stroking (3 cm/s) on the forearm is perceived as more pleasant than faster speeds (30 cm/s).

Conclusions:

• Identifies key factors for eliciting pleasant tactile stimuli.
• Provides a basis for well-defined pleasant stimuli in neurosensory assessments.
• Enables more comprehensive somatosensory function evaluations.