TouchNet is structured into two major research pillars:

Workpackage 1: Touch in the Real World

We conduct large-scale field experiments using Ecological Momentary Assessment. People get access to a special App, in which they track the quantity, contexts, and types of touch over a certain amount of time in their daily lives. Our goal is to collect over 100,000 individual touch events to understand how the frequency, context and individual factors influence people’s well-being in everyday life.

Workpackage 2: The Neural Blueprint of Touch

Using state-of-the-art 3-Tesla and 7-Tesla MRI and fNIRS hyperscanning, we investigate how affective touch activates social and allostatic-interoceptive networks. We aim to identify neural pathways that facilitate social orientation and inter-person synchronization. These studies aim to show how touch modulates the brain’s social and regulatory circuits and how it may literally bring minds into sync.

How often does touching occur, under what conditions does it have to take place in order to have an effect?