First, the results of a 2006 University of Virginia study found touch in high-quality marriages helps to calm fears and anxiety.
The study was hailed as the first to study neurological reactions to human touch in a threatening situation, and the first to measure how close relationships enhance emotional health.
The study involved couples who first rated their marriages on a scale measuring satisfaction. Researchers placed the women in a functional MRI machine to monitor their brain activity while subjected to the threat of a mild electric shock. The couples were divided into 3 groups: In one group, each subject held her husband’s hand; in another, each woman held the hand of an anonymous experimenter; in a 3rd, no one held the women’s hands. The MRI showed how these women’s brains responded to this touch while in a threatening situation.
The study was hailed as the first to study neurological reactions to human touch in a threatening situation, and the first to measure how close relationships enhance emotional health.
The study involved couples who first rated their marriages on a scale measuring satisfaction. Researchers placed the women in a functional MRI machine to monitor their brain activity while subjected to the threat of a mild electric shock. The couples were divided into 3 groups: In one group, each subject held her husband’s hand; in another, each woman held the hand of an anonymous experimenter; in a 3rd, no one held the women’s hands. The MRI showed how these women’s brains responded to this touch while in a threatening situation.
