Touch is the first sensory system to develop and its fundamental role in the human development has been demonstrated in several evolving pathways, from biological growth to psychological maturity, to social skills achievements. This issue has a long background, from the historical studies of the Harlow¿s monkeys, to the milestone evidence proposed by Bowlby, to the recent researches of tactile modulations in psychopathology. Here, we use a new neuroscientific paradigm, the Affective Touch (AT), to study the implications of the hedonic touches on the Attachment Styles.
AT is a behavioral response to the stimulation of the hairy skin; it is usually perceived as a pleasant touch, similar to a caress. McGlone described a neurophysiological system that mediates AT, called CT fibers, a population of low-threshold mechanoreceptive afferents activated by subjectively rated pleasant stroking velocities (1 to 10 cm/s). Several studies showed that AT is impaired in psychiatric pathologies, mainly in personality disorders. Also, it has been hypostasized that AT could be modulated by the attachment style. Accordingly, the aim of this project is to explore the effect of the attachment style in the perception of AT. We will administer the Adult Attachment Interview and the AT protocol to a sample of healthy participants; we expect to find that the attachment styles affect the level of pleasantness evoked by the AT. We predict that, given the social and emotional function of AT and the affective difficulties exhibited by persons with a disorganized attachment, the perception of touch pleasantness would be reduced in people with disorganized attachment. By combining psychophysical and psychological data we will provide new data on the somatosensory processes underlying attachment styles and on some basic tactile mechanisms underlying psychopathological dimensions in which the processing of interpersonal information is impaired, opening the door to possible novel treatments.
The present project has the potentiality to impact psychological, neuroscientific and social fields.
Social support is crucial for psychological and physical well-being. Yet, in experimental and clinical research on touch, the response to the AT has been found to be strongly related with the presence of psychological disorders, especially in the domain of personalities. Therefore, the understanding of the interactions between somatosensation (namely AT) and attachment styles will represent a milestone toward a deeper understanding of emotional and social disorders observed in pathologies affecting interpersonal relationships.
According to our knowledge, this would be the first study that attempt to reassemble
1. the historical evidence proposed by Harlow on the effect of the tactile experience as a mean for safety in humans;
2. the role of tactile experience as a mediator for the attachment style;
3. the effect of the attachment style in the perception of social boundaries.
By combining behavioral, psychophysical and psychological data we will provide a core knowledge about the somatosensory processes underlying attachment styles (namely disorganized) and on some basic tactile perceptual mechanisms underlying psychopathological dimensions in which the processing of interpersonal (and social) information is impaired, opening the door to possible novel treatments.
All in all, this project is potentially relevant to priority 3 ¿Societal Challenges¿ of Horizon 2020, as our findings will contribute to ¿improve the psychological health and wellbeing of all¿, decreasing the costs of the Health System at the same time.
In addition, this project will also allow relevant advances in brain research (priority 1 ¿Excellent Science¿ of Horizon 2020). As stated above, there is a need to overcome the confounding factors that limited previous studies, which is exactly what this project is about.
Among other things, an outstanding result will be provided by the attempt to bring together the strong psychological background of the Bowlby¿s Attachment Theory with the Behavioral Neuroscience methods and perspective.
References of the Project
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