Caresses during intercourse provide pleasure. But where does it come from? For the first time, researchers have identified the link between this feeling of pleasure and touch. This study was conducted by researchers at the Zuckerman Institute in Columbia (USA) and published in the journal Cell.
Caresses: the pleasure would be linked to neurobiological pathways of the skin
For this study, the researchers used optogeneticsa technique that “involves introducing a gene into a cell which codes for a photosensitive protein, which will activate when illuminated with a specific light“, explains Inserm. The tests were carried out on mice.
Thanks to this technique used, the researchers ensured that some mouse touch cells, Mrgprb4, are sensitive to blue light. When the cells in question were illuminated by blue lightthe mice were to go back and forth in order to receive this light which was installed on only one side of the observation space. This shows that the mice have felt sensory cell activation by blue light as a reward.
Moreover, in order to prove the impact of these sensory cells, the researchers eliminated them in the second part of the study. They then remarked “a collapse of touch-related reward circuits“, representing decreased sexual response.
Through this research, researchers aim to the first time identified a link between touch and the pleasure felt. According to scientists, it is linked to neurobiological pathways of the skin, the reaction of which can be observed in the affected areas of the brain.
A future cream to reproduce caressing sensations during intercourse?
Leah Helias, postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, explained to the Liberation media: “There is different types of nerve fibersreceptive to different types of touch: […] it is not the same nerve cells that are stimulated whether it is a caress, pressure or of itching.” Thus, she specifies that this study shows the cells stimulated during intercourse, but that this opens the way to the study of other nerve cells.
According to her, this discovery would make it possible to “shed light on a complete neurological pathway“. In particular, this might lead to the creation of treatments such as “creams containing small molecules applied to the skin, which would ultimately have an impact on the brain, without the side effects of direct brain manipulation“. The latter would aim to treat depressive and anxiety disorders.
Beyond fighting these disorders, the researchers hope that thanks to this discovery, they will be able to find a way to “restore social ties with people affected […] autism“. However, if these first results are promising, further research is needed in order to develop such treatments.
