CORTICAL INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL AND PLEASANT TOUCH

A simple touch can transmit a rich spectrum of discriminative and emotional cues, making it a crucial driver of social and affective behaviors. While the neural circuits for tactile discrimination are well defined, the pathways mediating the emotional and motivational aspect of touch remain largely underexplored.
To bridge this gap, we combined anatomical and functional mapping using genetic and viral tools to selectively manipulate tactile afferents in mice. We pinpointed a specific class of sensory neurons—C-LTMRs—whose activation makes touch rewarding and enhances social interaction. Conversely, dampening C-LTMR activity led to a marked reduction in social behavior.
We further mapped key integrative hubs and cortical pathways activated by pleasant touch, revealing that C-LTMR-driven pathways modulate appetitive behavior and social motivation in unexpected ways. These findings highlight the multimodal nature of somatosensory processing and its influence on behavior.
These findings advance our understanding of how affective somatosensory signals are integrated into reward circuits and how their dysregulation may contribute to deficits in motivation and social functioning in pathological conditions.