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Defining pleasant touch stimuli: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Pleasantness is generally overlooked when investigating tactile functions. Addition of a pleasant stimulus could allow for a more complete characterisation of somatosensory function. The aims of this review were to systematically assess the methodologies used to elicit a pleasant sensation, measured via psychophysical techniques, and to perform a meta-analysis to measure the effect of brush stroking velocity on touch pleasantness. Eighteen studies were included in the systematic review, with five studies included in the meta-analysis. The review found that factors such as texture, velocity, force, and the duration of continuous stroking influence tactile evoked pleasantness. Specifically, using a soft material and stroking at a velocity of 3 cm/s with light force is generally considered as particularly pleasant. The meta-analysis showed that a brush stroking velocity of 30 cm/s was rated as less pleasant than 3 cm/s, on the forearm. The present study collates the factors that are most likely to provide a stimulus to elicit a pleasant sensation. The results should be important for studies requiring a well-defined pleasant stimulus including neurosensory assessment protocols, allowing for a more complete multimodality assessment of somatosensory function.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Orofacial Pain and Jaw Function, Department of Dentistry and Oral Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Pankaj Taneja, Peter Svensson & Lene Baad-Hansen

  2. Scandinavian Centre for Orofacial Neurosciences (SCON), Aarhus, Denmark

    Pankaj Taneja, Mats Trulsson, Peter Svensson & Lene Baad-Hansen

  3. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Håkan Olausson

  4. Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden

    Mats Trulsson

  5. Department of Orofacial Pain and Jaw Function, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

    Peter Svensson

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  1. Pankaj Taneja
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  2. Håkan Olausson
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Correspondence to Pankaj Taneja.

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Taneja, P., Olausson, H., Trulsson, M. et al. Defining pleasant touch stimuli: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Research 85, 20–35 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01253-8

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