Human Touch

How "human touch" works and why it is so important is described by the young neuroscientist Rebecca Böhme in this extraordinarily vivid and empathetic book that is touching in the truest sense of the word. The science of human touch is young. Not long ago, the rule was the same for babies as for older people: Touching forbidden. Today we know: Newborns who experience intense skin contact right after birth are less likely to become frustrated at a year old and are better able to self-soothe. Physical contact remains essential for our health and well-being well into old age. Humans are contact creatures, caressing is not a luxury but a means of survival. People who are touched live longer and recover more quickly from illnesses. A lack of touch, on the other hand, can make us downright ill. Rebecca Böhme shows what happens in our body and head when we are touched, she examines the trend phenomenon of cuddle parties and asks about the possibility of touch in long-distance relationships.