We can sense touch even through a tool

How the brain's somatosensory system translates touch into an experience

When humans perceive touch, that information is sent to the thalamus and then onward to the primary somatosensory cortex, the part of the brain that receives sensory inputs.

Efforts to build touch-enabled machines highlight the complexity of human touch

The challenges that engineers are facing as they try to reproduce a human's ability to touch and also give robots the ability to interpret that kind of sensory flow are furthering our understanding of the myriad intricacies of human touch—and the challenges in emulating it.

Blindfolded people could identify objects by touch alone a week after encountering them

These touch memories are more complex and durable than previously thought. In research published in 2018, blindfolded volunteers touched over 150 household objects for about 10 seconds each, and afterward correctly identified the objects more than 90 percent of the time when presented with the object and a similar one. Participants still knew most of the objects a week later with about 85 percent accuracy. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Humans likely cannot tickle themselves because there's no element of surprise

Unraveling the neural mechanisms of tickling—formally called gargalesis—is an area of active research, but a leading theory about why we can't tickle ourselves is that the brain's somatosensory cortex processes self-touch differently than it does external touch. The cerebellum already anticipated what was going to happen when you move your hand for self-touch, limiting the effectiveness of a self-tickle.

Parents and romantic partners naturally touch at speeds optimizing nerve activation

A small observational research study shows that when parents are asked to caress their infants and volunteers are asked to caress their partners, both groups spontaneously stroke their loved ones at velocities that, on average, fell within the optimal range to stimulate the C-tactile afferent nerve receptors. This wasn't the case when volunteers were asked to do the same with an artificial arm, which they stroked much faster.

A researcher thinks she knows why people keep touching museum exhibits

A museologist who studied unauthorized touch at the British Museum concluded that people may feel it's difficult to learn about things "unless you handle them" and that people are trying to connect with the past, viscerally. Her work has included interviewing British Museum visitors who committed unauthorized touches and spending extensive periods observing people touching prohibited items across 2004 and 2005.

Touch helps newborns regulate stress, gain weight, and feel less pain

Conclusions from this 2024 analysis from a team of Danish researchers included that touch interventions were particularly useful for newborns in regulating cortisol levels, helping newborns gain weight, and reducing pain. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Touch is the first sense a fetus develops in the womb

During gestation, our sense of touch begins to develop around 8 weeks, starting with the development of sensory receptors in the face and, about a month later, in the palms and soles of the feet.

How texture affects taste

Texture is the brain's interpretation of several sensations, including pressure, as registered by our teeth, tongue, and finger tips, and sound, as recorded by our ears. Texture also speaks to food particle sizes—smaller than 35 microns contributes to the sensation of creamy—and the balance between flavor and mouth time, such as the crunch of a crispy chip or the bounce of a chewy caramel.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

The brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about phantom pain

The findings, published in 2025, traced three amputees' brain-body maps and how they respond to body part movements—both before and after scheduled arm amputations. The unexpected neural stability suggests that the unchanged pathways for the missing limbs may explain why people continue to feel them so acutely.

Taste buds are found throughout the body, with different biological functions

As biological structures, taste receptors take in molecules, analyze them, and send signals to the brain letting us know what they've found. This functionality makes them useful throughout the body, most notably in the gut where receptors act as glucose sensors.

Brain-computer interfaces create a direct link between the brain and external devices

The technology enables users to control prosthetics, computers, or even games using only their thoughts. In 2021, a monkey played table tennis using only its brain, thanks to a Neuralink device, marking a major milestone before human trials began in 2024.

A stand-in 'nose' may help people with anosmia to smell certain odors

In a 2025 paper, researchers reported they'd created a proof-of-concept device that bypasses typical olfactory pathways and instead exploits an alternative—the trigeminal nerve in the nose—to detect a few strong scents. The nerve typically helps detect the temperature of inhaled air or the presence of irritants. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

If hearing is damaged, the brain may amplify remaining sounds, perhaps causing tinnitus

Recent mouse brain and ear imaging revealed that the creature compensates for hearing loss by sending signals to the cochlea in the inner ear. This triggers nerve fibers in the inner ear to increase volume and become more sensitive. Learning about these boosted-sensitivity messages from the brain to the cochlea—if they're similar in humans—might help explain tinnitus and fuel experimental approaches to turn down that sensitivity.

Is using VR as a tool to enhance empathy ethical?

This research paper explores whether virtual reality should be used as a tool for improving our moral character — and, if not, what ethical alternatives could be.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

How brain cells carry information

At any moment, there is an electrical storm coursing through your body. Discover how chemical reactions create an electric current that drives our responses to everything from hot pans to a mother’s caress.

Like fingerprints, brain anatomy is unique too

Researchers have discovered that a combination of experiences and genetic factors shape the anatomy of the human brain. They found even quick experiences affect the brain’s genetic makeup, which—over time—means every person develops a completely unique brain anatomy. While brain imaging could be used to identify individuals, it remains much more expensive than fingerprinting for now. Read to found out more about this study from the University of Zurich.

The dreaming brain, as understood by scientists

Technology has advanced to where the seemingly separate fields of psychology and neuroscience are asking the same questions about dreams, such as whether they're more closely related to perception or visualization. Some field-intersecting findings include research that shows people with impaired face perception don't dream of faces, those with brain legion-related cognition difficulties deal with similar issues in dreams, and children's dreams change in parallel to their cognitive development.

Generally, NBA basketball teams whose players touch each other more win more games

This 2010 research finding underscores the importance of touch in promoting trust, bonding, and cooperation, thereby apparently improving team success. Touch also promotes cooperation in other settings: In a separate "prisoner's dilemma" study, when the experimenter gently touched some participants with a quick pat on the back, the touched individuals were more likely to cooperate and share with their partner.

Finding delight through your five senses

Digging into your immediate senses is shown to benefit your overall psychological well-being, from the happy memories evoked by familiar scents or through the transformative power of birdsong. This episode from the Science of Happiness podcast highlights insights from Gretchen Rubin, an author who has written books on the importance of engaging your senses for a happy life.

Synesthesia: when sensation in one sense triggers an unrelated sense in the brain

The first reported clinical case of synesthesia dates back to the early 1800s, though the perceptual phenomenon may be much older than surviving records imply. This article by researcher Richard Cytowic details the scientific history of synesthesia, a neurological trait that causes some senses to overlap, giving color to numbers and flavors to names.

A Venus flytrap's hairs convert sensory touch into electrical signals

A stretch-activated ion channel called DmMSL10 acts as an amplifier, converting grazing contact into a strong impulse that the plant uses to react and close its jaw. To distinguish prey from raindrops or other stimuli, the jaw only closes when the hairs are touched twice in quick succession.

The reason some people love exercise may be because of their microbiome

Certain gut microbes in mice trigger dopamine release and drive motivation to exercise more. Scientists are investigating whether humans carry similar microbial patterns that influence our natural inclination towards movement, exploring how unseen microbial ecosystems may shape mammalian fitness behavior and reinforce innate reward pathways. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

AI tools are trained on human-created data containing implicit and explicit biases

Because AI tools reflect patterns in their training data, their outputs may reinforce existing societal biases—especially racial ones—rather than offering neutral or fair ones. Adequate training is necessary to undermine these biases whenever new data is incorporated.

How old are stone tools?

The earliest evidence for stone tools currently dates back to 3.3 million years ago, long before modern humans started roaming about. These tools were made by stone flaking, a mode of tool creation that still is used today and is done by striking...

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

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