Why skin hunger is 2021’s most pressing issue

Touch is the unspoken universal language, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put touch on trial. “People say this area is important to be yourself. That it connects your own self to your body,” says Ryo Kitada, a cognitive neuroscientist and associate professor at NTU. Kitada’s research, in the past, has showed that anticipating a painful experience—yours or someone else’s—is significantly less difficult if someone you love holds your hand through it. He’s currently working on a hypothesis that human skin, in terms of temperature and softness, is the most pleasant surface to the touch.