C-tactile afferents: the mystery of human emotional touch has been hidden hair-deep

Ingvars Birznieks

doi:10.1113/JP289528

C-tactile afferents: the mystery of human emotional touch has been hidden hair-deep

Ingvars Birznieks

University of New South Wales
Neuroscience Research Australia

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

3 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Human skin is innervated by two major classes of sensory nerve fibres (afferents) – myelinated large-diameter A-fibres and small-diameter unmyelinated C-fibres. A-beta subclass afferents innervating innocuous (low-threshold) mechanoreceptors in the skin are responsible for discriminative touch, allowing us to perceive various properties of objects, understand the environment and effectively control our movement. C-fibre afferents are typically mentioned in relation to nociception or pain perception.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4441-4442
Number of pages	2
Journal	Journal of Physiology
Volume	603
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1113/JP289528
Publication status	Published - Aug 2025
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

affective touch
C-LTMR
C-tactile afferents
hair follicle
mechanoreceptors

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abstract = "Human skin is innervated by two major classes of sensory nerve fibres (afferents) {\textendash} myelinated large-diameter A-fibres and small-diameter unmyelinated C-fibres. A-beta subclass afferents innervating innocuous (low-threshold) mechanoreceptors in the skin are responsible for discriminative touch, allowing us to perceive various properties of objects, understand the environment and effectively control our movement. C-fibre afferents are typically mentioned in relation to nociception or pain perception. ",

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C-tactile afferents: the mystery of human emotional touch has been hidden hair-deep

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