Why Hugs Feel Good

Everybody likes to be cuddled; now scientists know why. Humans are hard-wired with a separate network of nerves that trigger emotional, hormonal, and behavioral responses to being touched. This network of slow-conducting nerves, called the C-tactile (CT) network, is separate from the fast-conducting nerves that signal the brain about heat, cold, pressure, and pain. Swedish scientists learned about the CT network’s function through a patient who lost the use of her primary network of nerves. When scientists stroked her arm, she felt no touch or vibration, but she reported feeling a “pleasant” pressure. Impulses traveled along this network at just 1 meter per second—compared to 60 meters per second for signals along a normal person’s primary network. “It seems the CT network conveys emotions, or a sense of self,” Dr. Hakan Olausson tells New Scientist. “It must be used for the unconscious aspects of touch, because it is so slow.” —The Week