Aβ-CT Affective Touch: Touch Pleasantness Ratings for Gentle Stroking and Deep Pressure Exhibit Dependence on A-Fibers.

Autor:	Case LK; Department of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA 92037 lcase@health.ucsd.edu.; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892., Madian N; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892., McCall MV; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892., Bradson ML; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892., Liljencrantz J; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.; Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, 413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden., Goldstein B; Department of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA 92037., Alasha VJ; Department of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA 92037., Zimmerman MS; Department of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA 92037.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	ENeuro [eNeuro] 2023 May 26; Vol. 10 (5). Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 26 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI:	10.1523/ENEURO.0504-22.2023
Abstrakt:	Gentle stroking of the skin is a common social touch behavior with positive affective consequences. A preference for slow versus fast stroking of hairy skin has been closely linked to the firing of unmyelinated C-tactile (CT) somatosensory afferents. Because the firing of CT afferents strongly correlates with touch pleasantness, the CT pathway has been considered a social-affective sensory pathway. Recently, ablation of the spinothalamic pathway- thought to convey all C-fiber sensations- in patients with cancer pain impaired pain, temperature, and itch, but not ratings of pleasant touch. This suggested integration of afferent A and CT fiber input in the spinal cord, or mechanoreceptive A-fiber contributions to computations of touch pleasantness in the brain. However, contribution of mechanoreceptive A-fibers to touch pleasantness, in humans without pain, remains unknown. In the current, single-blinded study, we performed two types of peripheral nerve blocks in healthy adults to temporarily eliminate the contribution of A-fibers to touch perception. Our findings show that when mechanoreceptive A-fiber function is greatly diminished, the perceived intensity and pleasantness of both gentle stroking and deep pressure are nearly abolished. These findings demonstrate that explicit perception of the pleasantness of CT-targeted brushing and pressure both critically depend on afferent A-fibers. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests. (Copyright © 2023 Case et al.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:	Zobrazit plný text záznamu