Is cultural context the crucial touch? Neurophysiological and self-reported responses to affective touch in women in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

IF 3.1
Danielle Hewitt, Sahba Besharati, Victoria Williams, Michelle Leal, Francis McGlone, Andrej Stancak, Jessica Henderson, Charlotte Krahé
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Abstract

Affective touch, involving touch-sensitive C-tactile (CT) afferent nerve fibres, is integral to human development and wellbeing. Despite presumed cultural differences, affective touch research typically includes 'Western', minority-world contexts, with findings extrapolated cross-culturally. We report the first cross-cultural study to experimentally investigate subjective and neurophysiological correlates of affective touch in women in South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK) using (1) touch ratings, and (2) cortical oscillations for slow CT-optimal (vs. faster CT-suboptimal) touch on two body regions (arm, palm). We also controlled for individual differences in touch experiences and attitudes and attachment style. Cultural context modulated affective touch: SA (vs. UK) participants rated touch as more positive and less intense, with enhanced differentiation in sensorimotor beta band oscillations, especially during palm touch. UK participants differentiated between stroking speeds, with opposite directions of effects at arm and palm for frontal theta oscillations. Alpha band power showed consistent effects across countries. Results highlight the importance of cultural context in subjective experience and neural processing of affective touch. Findings suggest that palm touch may hold greater social or emotional significance in SA than the UK. Future research should further explore potential cultural influences on the meaning and function of touch across contexts.

文化背景是关键因素吗?南非和英国女性对情感触摸的神经生理和自我报告反应。
情感触觉涉及触觉敏感的c -触觉(CT)传入神经纤维,是人类发展和健康不可或缺的一部分。尽管假定存在文化差异,但情感触摸研究通常包括“西方”、少数民族世界背景,其结果是跨文化推断的。我们报告了第一项跨文化研究,实验调查了南非(SA)和英国(UK)女性情感触摸的主观和神经生理相关性,使用(1)触摸评级,(2)两个身体区域(手臂,手掌)慢速ct最佳触摸(与快速ct次最佳触摸相比)的皮层振荡。我们还控制了触摸体验、态度和依恋风格的个体差异。文化背景调节情感触摸:美国(与英国相比)的参与者认为触摸更积极,更不强烈,感觉运动β波段振荡的差异增强,尤其是在手掌触摸时。英国参与者区分了不同的抚摸速度,手臂和手掌的前额波振荡方向相反。Alpha波段功率在不同国家表现出一致的影响。研究结果强调了文化背景在情感触摸的主观体验和神经加工中的重要性。研究结果表明,与英国相比,手掌触摸在南非可能具有更大的社会或情感意义。未来的研究应进一步探讨文化对不同语境下触摸的意义和功能的潜在影响。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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