Affective Touch and the Neurophysiology of CT Afferents

Affective Touch and the Neurophysiology of CT Afferents PDF Author: Håkan Olausson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1493964186
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 430

Book Description
CT afferents are receptors in mammalian hairy skin that fire action potentials when the skin is touched lightly which makes them particularly important in affective touch. Traditionally neuroscientific research has focused on more discriminative and haptic properties of touch that are mediated by large myelinated afferents and the coding properties and functional organization of unmyelinated CT afferents have been studied much less. The proposed volume will draw together existing knowledge in this nascent field. Separate sections will address (1) how we can measure affective touch, (2) CT structure and physiology, (3) CT processing, (4) the contribution of CTs to sexual behavior, (5) clinical relevance, (6) commercial relevance, and (7) future research considerations.​

Pain, Touch, and Decision Making

Pain, Touch, and Decision Making PDF Author: Lina Koppel
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
ISBN: 9179297862
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 87

Book Description
Stimulation of sensory nerves can give rise to powerful affective experiences. Noxious stimuli can give rise to pain, an unpleasant experience which, in turn, causes suffering and constitutes a major societal burden. Touch, on the other hand, can feel pleasant and plays an important role in social relationships and well-being. Slow, gentle stroking of the skin in particular has been shown to activate C-tactile (CT) afferents, which are thought to signal affective and socially relevant aspects of touch. However, little is known about how pain and affective touch influence everyday decision making. In Paper I, we investigated the effect of acute physical pain on risk taking and intertemporal choice. Participants (n = 109) performed a series of economic decision-making tasks, once while experiencing acute thermal pain and once in a no-pain control condition. Results indicated that pain increased risk taking for monetary gains but not for equivalent losses, and increased impatience. In Paper II, we investigated the effect of affective touch on betrayal aversion, altruism, and risk taking. Participants (n = 120) performed a series of economic decision-making tasks, once while being stroked on the forearm at CT-optimal speed using a soft painter’s brush and once in a no-touch control condition. Results indicated no effect of affective touch on any of the outcome measures. In Paper III, we investigated how the ability to affect an upcoming painful event via voluntary action influences cortical processing of ongoing somatosensory stimulation. fMRI data was collected from 30 participants while they performed a task that involved pressing a response button to reduce the duration of upcoming thermal stimuli. Whole-brain analyses revealed no significant task-related effects in brain regions typically involved in pain, except activation in a cluster in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was greater when upcoming stimulation was painful than when it was nonpainful. However, region-of-interest analyses in anterior insula (AI) and midcingulate cortex (MCC) indicated that the noxious nature of the upcoming stimulation, as well as the ability to affect it, influenced processing of ongoing stimulation in both of these regions. Activation in MCC, but not AI, also correlated with response times. Taken together, these studies contribute to the broader understanding of everyday decision making, and of how affective experiences such as pain and touch shape everyday decisions and behaviors. Stimulering av nervfibrer i huden kan ge upphov till starka känsloupplevelser. Skadliga eller potentiellt skadliga stimuli kan ge upphov till smärta, en obehaglig upplevelse som i sin tur orsakar lidande och har stora socioekonomiska konsekvenser. Beröring, å andra sidan, kan upplevas som behagligt och är en viktig del av sociala relationer. Förhållandevis lite kunskap finns dock om hur smärta och beröring påverkar vardagligt beslutsfattande. Blir vi otåliga av att uppleva smärta? Tar vi fler risker? Gör beröring oss snällare och mer tillitsfulla? I denna avhandling presenteras tre studier som försöker svara på denna typ av frågor. I den första studien fick deltagarna smärtsam värmestimulering samtidigt som de fattade beslut om pengar. Besluten involverade t.ex. att välja mellan en säker vinst på 50 kr eller att singla slant om att vinna 100 kr. Resultaten visade att smärta ökade risktagande för vinster, men inte för motsvarande förluster. Deltagare som upplevde smärta var även mer otåliga, dvs. de föredrog i större utsträckning snabba belöningar. I den andra studien fick deltagarna beröring med en mjuk pensel samtidigt som de fattade beslut. Lätt, smekande beröring aktiverar en särskild typ av nervfibrer, som tros signalera affektiva och socialt relevanta aspekter av beröring. Beröring ökar även utsöndringen av hormonet oxytocin, som sägs öka känslan av tillit till andra människor, även om de vetenskapliga bevisen för detta är motstridiga. Resultaten av studien visade ingen effekt av beröring på beslutsfattande. I den tredje studien undersöktes hjärnans aktivitet vid smärtsam stimulering. Vi vet sedan tidigare att hjärnan inte bara reagerar på det som händer just nu, utan att den även förbereder inför vad som kan komma att hända i framtiden. Deltagarna fick smärtsam eller icke-smärtsam värmestimulering samtidigt som de utförde en uppgift som innebar att de skulle trycka på en knapp för att förkorta en kommande värmestimulering. Resultaten visade att hjärnans bearbetning av pågående stimulering påverkades av huruvida nästkommande stimulering var smärtsam eller inte och huruvida den gick att påverka. Sammantaget bidrar dessa studier till en ökad förståelse av hur människor fattar beslut och hur upplevelser som smärta och beröring påverkar vardagligt beslutfattande och beteende. Smärta har en stark koppling till beteende, eftersom vi snabbt måste kunna agera för att undvika skada. Beröring, däremot, upplevs på olika sätt beroende på den sociala kontexten, vilket troligtvis också påverkar beröringens effekt på beteende.

Somatosensory Research Methods

Somatosensory Research Methods PDF Author: Nicholas Paul Holmes
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 1071630687
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 489

Book Description
This volume provides methods on the study of the systems of the brain. Chapters are divided into four parts covering; discriminative touch, proprioception and kinaesthesis, affective touch, individual differences due to atypical development, ageing, illusions and sensory substitution, microneurography, electrophysiology, brain imaging, and brain stimulation. In Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your research center and clinical investigation. Thorough and comprehensive, Somatosensory Research Methods aims to be comprehensive guide for researchers.

Mindreading and Social Cognition

Mindreading and Social Cognition PDF Author: Jane Suilin Lavelle
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108944183
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 142

Book Description
The cognitive ability to think about other people's psychological states is known as `mindreading'. This Element critiques assumptions that have been formative in shaping philosophical theories of mindreading: that mindreading is ubiquitous, underpinning the vast majority of our social interactions; and that its primary goal is to provide predictions and explanations of other people's behaviour. It begins with an overview of key positions and empirical literature in the debate. It then introduces and motivates the pluralist turn in this literature, which challenges the core assumptions of the traditional views. The second part of the Element uses case studies to further motivate the pluralist framework, and to advocate the pluralist approach as the best way to progress our understanding of social cognitive phenomena.

The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference

The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference PDF Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128054093
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 5215

Book Description
The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set is a comprehensive reference work covering the range of topics that constitute current knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying the different senses. This important work provides the most up-to-date, cutting-edge, comprehensive reference combining volumes on all major sensory modalities in one set. Offering 264 chapters from a distinguished team of international experts, The Senses lays out current knowledge on the anatomy, physiology, and molecular biology of sensory organs, in a collection of comprehensive chapters spanning 4 volumes. Topics covered include the perception, psychophysics, and higher order processing of sensory information, as well as disorders and new diagnostic and treatment methods. Written for a wide audience, this reference work provides students, scholars, medical doctors, as well as anyone interested in neuroscience, a comprehensive overview of the knowledge accumulated on the function of sense organs, sensory systems, and how the brain processes sensory input. As with the first edition, contributions from leading scholars from around the world will ensure The Senses offers a truly international portrait of sensory physiology. The set is the definitive reference on sensory neuroscience and provides the ultimate entry point into the review and original literature in Sensory Neuroscience enabling students and scientists to delve into the subject and deepen their knowledge. All-inclusive coverage of topics: updated edition offers readers the only current reference available covering neurobiology, physiology, anatomy, and molecular biology of sense organs and the processing of sensory information in the brain Authoritative content: world-leading contributors provide readers with a reputable, dynamic and authoritative account of the topics under discussion Comprehensive-style content: in-depth, complex coverage of topics offers students at upper undergraduate level and above full insight into topics under discussion

An At-Home Guide to Children’s Sensory and Behavioral Problems

An At-Home Guide to Children’s Sensory and Behavioral Problems PDF Author: Linda Garofallou
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000962881
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
An At-Home Guide to Children’s Sensory and Behavioral Problems gives a new perspective on sensory and behavior problems, one that sees those behaviors as stemming from a child’s immature sensory nervous system and regulation difficulties. This book offers an effective at-home intervention, the Qigong Sensory Treatment, that enlists a parent's attuned touch to address often overlooked sensory issues that underlie ‘problem’ behaviors and works to organize those sensory experiences to foster connection and the capacity for self-regulation. It introduces the reader to a new and clinically useful model to understand sensory development, the Early Childhood Self-regulatory Milestones which are critical to the emotional and behavioral health and regulation for all children. With clear step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and links to online instructional videos, it teaches parents how to successfully implement the daily QST hands-on routine. Unique to the treatment model is how it guides and focuses parents to easily recognize, interpret and respond to their child's shifting non-verbal body and behavioral responses and cues. An extensive workbook section navigates parents through a year-long process of learning and implementing QST at home. Weekly letters include those written by the authors, parents who share their own personal experiences with the routine and by QST Master Trainers who offer their years of experience and helpful tips. The 52 letters are timed to anticipate and answer typical questions or stumbling blocks that parents commonly encounter at key points, guiding them to success with their child’s sensory and behavior difficulties while making for happier and less-stressful times with their child. This guide will be indispensable to parents and clinicians looking to understand and more effectively work with their child’s developmental difficulties.

Embodiment, Enaction, and Culture

Embodiment, Enaction, and Culture PDF Author: Christoph Durt
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262549255
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 451

Book Description
The first interdisciplinary investigation of the cultural context of enactive embodiment, offering perspectives that range from the neurophilosophical to the anthropological. Recent accounts of cognition attempt to overcome the limitations of traditional cognitive science by reconceiving cognition as enactive and the cognizer as an embodied being who is embedded in biological, psychological, and cultural contexts. Cultural forms of sense-making constitute the shared world, which in turn is the origin and place of cognition. This volume is the first interdisciplinary collection on the cultural context of embodiment, offering perspectives that range from the neurophilosophical to the anthropological. The book brings together new contributions by some of the most renowned scholars in the field and the latest results from up-and-coming researchers. The contributors explore conceptual foundations, drawing on work by Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre, and respond to recent critiques. They consider whether there is something in the self that precedes intersubjectivity and inquire into the relation between culture and consciousness, the nature of shared meaning and social understanding, the social dimension of shame, and the nature of joint affordances. They apply the notion of radical enactive cognition to evolutionary anthropology, and examine the concept of the body in relation to culture in light of studies in such fields as phenomenology, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and psychopathology. Through such investigations, the book breaks ground for the study of the interplay of embodiment, enaction, and culture. Contributors Mark Bickhard, Ingar Brinck, Anna Ciaunica, Hanne De Jaegher, Nicolas de Warren, Ezequiel Di Paolo, Christoph Durt, John Z. Elias, Joerg Fingerhut, Aikaterini Fotopoulou, Thomas Fuchs, Shaun Gallagher, Vittorio Gallese, Duilio Garofoli, Katrin Heimann, Peter Henningsen, Daniel D. Hutto, Laurence J. Kirmayer, Alba Montes Sánchez, Dermot Moran, Maxwell J. D. Ramstead, Matthew Ratcliffe, Vasudevi Reddy, Zuzanna Rucińska, Alessandro Salice, Glenda Satne, Heribert Sattel, Christian Tewes, Dan Zahavi

The Routledge International Handbook of Embodied Perspectives in Psychotherapy

The Routledge International Handbook of Embodied Perspectives in Psychotherapy PDF Author: Helen Payne
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351659472
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 647

Book Description
There is a growing interest in embodied approaches to psychotherapy internationally. This volume focuses on the respective focal professions of dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) and body psychotherapy (BP), addressing the psychotherapeutic need for healing throughout the lifespan. Within embodied clinical approaches, the therapist and client collaborate to discover how the body and movement can be used to strengthen positive relational skills, attending to the client's immediate and long-term needs through assessment, formulation, treatment and evaluation. Both DMP and BP are based upon the capacity and authority of the body and non-verbal communication to support and heal patients with diverse conditions, including trauma, unexplained bodily symptoms and other psychological distress, and to develop the clients’ emotional and relational capacities by listening to their bodies for integration and wellbeing. In The Routledge International Handbook of Embodied Perspectives in Psychotherapy, world leaders in the field contribute their expertise to showcase contemporary psychotherapeutic practice. They share perspectives from multiple models that have been developed throughout the world, providing information on theoretical advances and clinical practice, as well as discourse on the processes and therapeutic techniques employed individually and in groups. Presented in three parts, the book covers underpinning embodiment concepts, potentials of dance movement psychotherapy and of body psychotherapy, each of which is introduced with a scene-setting piece to allow the reader to easily engage with the content. With a strong focus on cross- and interdisciplinary perspectives, readers will find a wide compilation of embodied approaches to psychotherapy, allowing them to deepen and further their conceptualization and support best practice. This unique handbook will be of particular interest to clinical practitioners in the fields of body psychotherapy and dance movement psychotherapy as well as professionals from psychology, medicine, social work, counselling/psychotherapy and occupational therapy, and to those from related fields who are in search of information on the basic therapeutic principles and practice of body and movement psychotherapies and seeking to further their knowledge and understanding of the discipline. It is also an essential reference for academics and students of embodied psychotherapy, embodied cognitive science and clinical professions.

Interpersonal Rejection

Interpersonal Rejection PDF Author: Mark R. Leary
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195130146
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Book Description
Interpersonal rejection ranks among the most potent and distressing events that people experience. Romantic rejection, ostracism, stigmatization, job termination, and other kinds of rejects have the power to compromise the quality of people's lives. As a result, people are highly motivated to avoid social rejection, and indeed, much of human behavior appears to be designed to avoid such experiences. Yet, despite the widespread effects of real, anticipated and even imagined rejections, psychologists have devoted only passing attention to the topic, and the research on rejection has been scattered throughout a number of psychological subspecialtie including social, clinical, developmental, and personality psychology. This volume brigns together contributors whose work is on the cutting edge of rejection research, providing a readable overview of recent advances in the field. In doing so, it not only provides a look at the current state of the area, but also helps to establish the topic of rejection as an identifiable area for future research.

Itch

Itch PDF Author: E. Carstens
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1466505435
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482

Book Description
Advances in itch research have elucidated differences between itch and pain but have also blurred the distinction between them. There is a long debate about how somatic sensations including touch, pain, itch, and temperature sensitivity are encoded by the nervous system. Research suggests that each sensory modality is processed along a fixed, direct-line communication system from the skin to the brain. Itch: Mechanisms and Treatment presents a timely update on all aspects of itch research and the clinical treatment of itch that accompanies many dermatological conditions including psoriasis, neuropathic itch, cutaneous t-cells lymphomas, and systemic diseases such as kidney and liver disease and cancer. Composed of contributions from distinguished researchers around the world, the book explores topics such as: Neuropathic itch Peripheral neuronal mechanism of itch The role of PAR-2 in neuroimmune communication and itch Mrgprs as itch receptors The role of interleukin-31 and oncostatin M in itch and neuroimmune communication Spinal coding of itch and pain Spinal microcircuits and the regulation of itch Examining new findings on cellular and molecular mechanisms, the book is a compendium of the most current research on itch, its prevalence in society, and the problems associated with treatment.