Paula Salamone

This study identifies spinal oxytocin circuits as a conserved mechanism through which affiliative touch reduces pain and enhances well-being in mice and humans.

The paper investigates autonomic modulations in cardiac dynamics during social touch, self-touch, and object-touch, finding greater sympathetic decrease and parasympathetic increase during social touch.

The paper quantifies how cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic activities couple with brain connectivity during self and social touch, revealing distinct patterns in frontoparietal networks and frequency bands.