Touching the Void: an investigation into the role of a population of gentle touch sensitive CT-afferents in social isolation and sensorydeprivation during a long-duration Antarctic stay

Humans are fundamentally social mammals, reliant on establishing and maintaining long-term alliances, which begins at birth, via touch, and lasts a lifetime. Social touch communicates far more than physical presence. It helps to foster social alliances and provides a stress-buffer, contributing to the emotional stability in individuals and groups, through psychophysiological regulation processes. Evidence raises that social touch is underpinned by the rewarding neurochemistry of endogenous opioids and oxytocin, being pleasurable experiences hungered for, as has been documented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Typical complaints during the pandemic overlapped with those described in Isolated, Confined, and Extreme (ICE) environments, as well as those in the literature on touch deprivation, including difficulties with sleep, mood, and interpersonal communication.