This essay is about the somatosensory system, which is divided into different kinds of touch. Described briefly are the proprioceptive touch, which is transported to the brain via A-alfa fibers and transmits information about e. g. limb position and movement. The cutaneous touch is the main focus and it is divided into discriminative touch and affective touch. The first corresponds to stimuli such as vibration and pressure and is transported via A-beta axons. The second, affective touch, corresponds to e.g. painful and pleasant stimuli which are transported to the brain via A-delta and C-fibers. The aim of the essay is to give an overview of the sense of touch, by doing a literature search, including a discussion of relevant neuronal correlates focusing particularly on affective touch. Moreover, the physiological aspects of touch will be presented. The sources that are used are review and original articles taken from databases such as ScienceDirect, and some articles send by the author. Some books have also been used to find more general knowledge. The conclusion for the essay is that touch is important for humans to function in everyday life. Additional, a specific receptor called C- tactile (CT) is identified to correspond to gentle touch and is suggested to have a vital role for humans in maintaining and forming social bounds. Moreover, discriminative touch is associated with activation in the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex, whereas affective touch seems to be associated with activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and the insula cortex, as well as the prefrontal cortex, which is suggested to be activated during interpersonal touch. Further, the sense touch needs to be more researched in order to understand its functions and benefits deeper.

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a severe and complex psychiatric disorder characterized by significantly low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted body image. Despite otherwise successful treatments, body image distortions are often persistent and are considered a critical factor in the persistence, development, and relapse of AN. The present review outlines the current literature on tactile distance processing in AN to investigate and discuss its proposed role in the persistence and development of a distorted body image. The discussion of literature further discusses its implications for cognitive neuroscience since AN patients display similar symptoms as patients diagnosed with body image-related neuropsychiatric disorders with damage to the parietal lobe. The evidence suggests that individuals with AN have poorer tactile distance estimation than controls but do not differ regarding tactile detection. This review outlines the current literature, identifies gaps within the methodology, and proposes novel directions for future research.

The somatosensory system concerns the sense of touch. It is sectioned into various kinds of touch, such as the proprioceptive sense, providing information of sense of self and position of limbs, and the cutaneous sense, informing of the modalities of touching or being touched. The cutaneous sense is further divided into discriminative touch and affective touch. Discriminative touch is an exteroceptive sense of touch that responds to stimuli of pressure and vibration, and affective touch is an interoceptive sense of touch that corresponds to e.g. pleasant and painful stimuli, communicating information to the brain through A-delta and C-fibers. Recent studies investigates affective touch to have emotional affect on the subjective experience of touch, affecting subjective wellbeing. The aim of this thesis is to examine the sense of touch and its relevant neural correlates, focusing on affective touch and its role in subjective wellbeing and social relations. A presentation of physiological and neural aspects of touch will be held as well as a description of subjective wellbeing. The conclusion for this thesis is that affective touch appears to activate brain areas of orbitofrontal cortex, frontal polar cortice, prefrontal cortex and insula cortex, which are brain areas processing subjective wellbeing, e.g. evaluating positive and negative effect and processing emotional information and behavior. Examining correlations between affective touch and positive affect, negative affect, oxytocin release, social relations and affiliative behavior shows influence from affective touch on subjective wellbeing. A discussion of the current findings is provided, including directions for future research.

The somatosensory system concerns the sense of touch. It is sectioned into various kinds of touch, such as the proprioceptive sense, providing information of sense of self and position of limbs, and the cutaneous sense, informing of the modalities of touching or being touched. The cutaneous sense is further divided into discriminative touch and affective touch. Discriminative touch is an exteroceptive sense of touch that responds to stimuli of pressure and vibration, and affective touch is an interoceptive sense of touch that corresponds to e.g. pleasant and painful stimuli, communicating information to the brain through A-delta and C-fibers. Recent studies investigates affective touch to have emotional affect on the subjective experience of touch, affecting subjective wellbeing. The aim of this thesis is to examine the sense of touch and its relevant neural correlates, focusing on affective touch and its role in subjective wellbeing and social relations. A presentation of physiological and neural aspects of touch will be held as well as a description of subjective wellbeing. The conclusion for this thesis is that affective touch appears to activate brain areas of orbitofrontal cortex, frontal polar cortice, prefrontal cortex and insula cortex, which are brain areas processing subjective wellbeing, e.g. evaluating positive and negative effect and processing emotional information and behavior. Examining correlations between affective touch and positive affect, negative affect, oxytocin release, social relations and affiliative behavior shows influence from affective touch on subjective wellbeing. A discussion of the current findings is provided, including directions for future research.