Thought this would be interesting. Scientists have located ‘pleasure’ nerves that fire only when stimulated just the way they like it. Too fast and they don’t pass the sensation on. Too slow and they’re left cold. Fascinating stuff.
BBC NEWS | Health | Scientists find ‘pleasure nerves’
The report can be found in pdf format at the following link.
Coding of pleasant touch by unmyelinated afferents in humans : Abstract : Nature Neuroscience
Musk
OK so the speed is 4-5 cm/sec or roughly 1 1/2 - 2 inches/second. That would work out to be 6 - 7.5 seconds/foot which would “constitute a privileged peripheral pathway for pleasant tactile stimulation that is likely to signal affiliative social body contact.” The absract called this “soft brush stroking”
What would happen if the stroking was significantly firmer. Like scratching. Is there a speed at which a scratch is percieved as pleasurable?
BBC NEWS | Health | How scratching can stop an itch
BBC NEWS | Health | How scratching impacts on brain
Can anybody get past the abstracts to see if they used a specific speed of scratch to activate pleasure centers?
OoohYahhh
I don’t know, but we all know that tickling works best when it’s soft and light. A smooth hand caressing me softly is much more pleasurable and frankly, a different sensation, than a smooth hand handling me roughly or quickly.
I’m not surprised that different touches yield different sensations, but I am surprised by the quantified requirement. 1.5-2 inches/second huh? Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.
Should my other ‘stroke’ also maintain the 1.5-2 inches/second ratio? 