| Summary: |
Touch has been called by Ashley Montagu the “least researched
of the senses.â€6 He raised many questions in his seminal
book Touching, about the role of touch in communication
and across cultures. In the first edition of Touch, I addressed
some of the questions Montagu raised.7 This second edition retains
most of the same material as the first edition and reviews
touch research published after 2001. I briefly summarize studies
on the role of touch in early development, including touch
deprivation and touch aversion; on touch in communication,
including reading emotions by touch and facilitating personal
relationships by touch; on physiological and biochemical effects
of touch, including areas of the brain that are affected by
touch; and on massage therapy effects on conditions including
prematurity, attentiveness, depression, pain, and autoimmune
and immune conditions.
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