Acute pain is eased with the touch of a hand
Thursday, September 23, 2010 - 11:35
in Psychology & Sociology
There may be a very good reason that people naturally clutch their hand after receiving an injury. A new report published online on September 23 in Current Biology shows that self-touch offers significant relief for acute pain under experimental conditions. The researchers suggest that the relief comes from a change in the brain's representation of the rest of the body.