Abstract
Introduction: The aim of our study was to investigate whether a pleasant tactile stimulation which is manually produced is qualitatively comparable to an analogous tactile stimulation produced instead by a mechanical source.Methods: Thirty-one subjects [16 men, 15 women, 24.5 ± 2.6 years, mean, and standard deviation (SD)] were tested under four different conditions in a repeated measurements design. A pleasant caress-like brush stroke on the hairy skin of the forearm was either produced by a robot or by hand with three different velocities (0.3, 3, and 30 cm/s). In two conditions the subjects were informed about the stroke's source, whereas in two different conditions they were not. Subsequent to the stimulation, the subjects were asked to rate both pleasantness and intensity of each tactile sensation.Results: Consistently, pleasantness ratings were very similar in both conditions. This was found across stimulus velocities and regardless of whether the subjects were informed about the source of the on-going stroke or not. In contrast, intensity ratings were significantly higher in the handheld condition for the two slower velocities, but not for the fastest one.Conclusion: As robot and human touch are highly comparable in terms of perceived pleasantness, handheld stimulation may be used in studies of touch hedonia where robot stimulation is not applicable (for instance in children or certain body parts).
Highlights
The aim of our study was to investigate whether a pleasant tactile stimulation which is manually produced is qualitatively comparable to an analogous tactile stimulation produced instead by a mechanical source
This was found across stimulus velocities and regardless of whether the subjects were informed about the source of the on-going stroke or not
As robot and human touch are highly comparable in terms of perceived pleasantness, handheld stimulation may be used in studies of touch hedonia where robot stimulation is not applicable
Summary
The aim of our study was to investigate whether a pleasant tactile stimulation which is manually produced is qualitatively comparable to an analogous tactile stimulation produced instead by a mechanical source. The optimal stimulus for activation of CT afferents, as indicated by psychophysical and microneurography measurements, was found to be a slow stroke within a velocity range of 1–10 cm/s, which approximately corresponds to the velocity of caress-like touch between individuals (Loken et al, 2009; McGlone et al, 2012) This observation is one of the key observations for the “social/affective touch” hypothesis proposing that CT afferents play a role in eliciting the pleasant subjective experience that accompanies behavioral responses to gentle touch between individuals (Olausson et al, 2010; McGlone et al, 2012)
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