Does affective touch buffer emotional distress? Insights from subjective and physiological indices

Area of Science:

• Psychophysiology
• Neuroscience
• Affective Science

Background:

• Affective touch activates C-tactile afferents, influencing emotional states and physiological responses.
• Emotional distress can be modulated by social touch, particularly in challenging situations.
• Understanding the psychophysiological mechanisms of affective touch is crucial for self-regulation strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the buffering role of affective touch in emotional and autonomic self-regulation.
• To disentangle the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying affective touch's impact on distress.
• To examine how affective touch influences subjective affective states and physiological markers of stress.

Main Methods:

• 92 childless adults viewed infant videos (positive/negative stimuli).
• Participants received either affective (brushing) or non-affective (tapping) tactile stimulation.
• Subjective (valence, arousal) and physiological (HR, RMSSD, SI) measures were collected.

Main Results:

• Negative stimuli increased arousal and decreased pleasantness.
• Affective touch led to greater increases in pleasantness.
• Tactile stimulation, especially affective touch, reduced sympathetic activity (lower SI) and increased vagal influence (HR deceleration, RMSSD recovery).

Conclusions:

• Affective touch effectively buffers emotional distress and promotes autonomic regulation.
• It plays a key role in decreasing sympathetic nervous system activity and enhancing parasympathetic (vagal) tone.
• Findings highlight affective touch as a significant modulator of emotional and physiological states.