Emotional and physiological responses to touch massage

Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed. Abstract 4 ABSTRACT Background: Clinical findings indicate that touch massage has the ability to induce positive emotions and influence stress responses. However, little is known about mechanisms that can explain observed responses. Aim: To understand mechanisms behind observed emotional and physiological responses during and after touch massage. Methods: This thesis is based upon healthy volunteers in Studies I, II, IV and patients undergone aortic surgery in Study III. Study I had a crossover design, participants served as their own controls. After randomization they received TM on one occasion and the other occasion served as control. Heart rate variability (HRV), heart rate (HR) saliva cortisol concentration, glucose, insulin in serum and extracellular (ECV) levels of glucose, lactate, glycerol and pyruvat were measured before, during and after TM/control. In study II, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in order to measure brain activity during TM mvement. The study design included four different touch stimulations, human touch with movement (TM movement) human stationary touch and rubber glove with or without movement. Force (2.5 N) and velocity (1.5 cm/s) were held constant across conditions. The pleasantness of the four different touch stimulations was rated on a visual analog scale (VAS-scale). Study III had a randomized controlled design. The intervention group received TM and the control group rested. HRV, cortisol, glucose, insulin in serum, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, respiratory frequency and anxiety levels were measured before, during and after TM/control. In study IV participants were interviewed about experiences after TM and the text was analyzed by qualitative content analyze. Results: Study I. TM reduced the stress response as indicated by decreased heart rate and decreased activity in the sympathetic nervous system, followed by a compensatory decrease in parasympathetic nervous activity in order to maintain balance. Cortisol and insulin levels decreased significantly after intervention, while serum glucose levels remained stable. A similar, though less prominent, pattern was seen during the control session. There were no significant differences in ECV concentrations of analyzed substances. Study II. Human moving touch (TM movement) was significantly rated as the most pleasant touch stimulation. The fMRI results revealed that human moving touch (TM movement) most strongly activated the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC). Studys …