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Unmyelinated tactile afferents signal touch and project to insular cortex.

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Affiliations

  • 1. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, S-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden.
      Authors
    • Olausson H 1
    (1 author)

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Nature Neuroscience, 01 Sep 2002, 5(9):900-904
https://doi.org/10.1038/nn896 PMID: 12145636 

Abstract 

There is dual tactile innervation of the human hairy skin: in addition to fast-conducting myelinated afferent fibers, there is a system of slow-conducting unmyelinated (C) afferents that respond to light touch. In a unique patient lacking large myelinated afferents, we found that activation of C tactile (CT) afferents produced a faint sensation of pleasant touch. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis during CT stimulation showed activation of the insular region, but not of somatosensory areas S1 and S2. These findings identify CT as a system for limbic touch that may underlie emotional, hormonal and affiliative responses to caress-like, skin-to-skin contact between individuals.

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Read article at publisher's site: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn896

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