News + Trends

Fears: Warm hands, warm around the heart

21.1.2022

Translation: machine translated

Warmth is not only of physiological importance for us. It also conveys a sense of security and prevents the fear response in the conditioning experiment.

Especially in the cold season, many of us enjoy the cozy warmth around the campfire or in the sauna. As the heat slowly penetrates the body, a feeling arises as if one were wrapped in absorbent cotton. Erica Hornstein, Michael Fanselow and Naomi Eisenberger of the University of California have now demonstrated that this is far more than mere comfort. According to the trio of researchers, warmth conveys an evolutionarily significant sense of security and could also help treat anxiety attacks and trauma.

The scientists from the sunny south of the USA cleverly modified well-known conditioning experiments. First, they administered a small electric shock to 30 test subjects whenever they held certain objects in their hands. These included a rubber ball or a heat pad. If, on the other hand, they were given a block of wood, no electric shock followed. Over time, they learned when to expect an unpleasant stimulus and already reacted to the object associated with it - they began to sweat. With one exception, the researchers could not detect any change in body signals with the heat pad, even though it reliably predicted an electric shock just like the other objects.

Heat cannot be conditioned with a negative stimulus

To investigate the special property of heat in more detail, Hornstein's team conducted another experiment with 30 other subjects. This time, electric shocks followed certain photos. Once the subjects had internalized the link, the experimenters paired the pictures with the objects from the first experiment. Again, only the heat pad failed to elicit a fear response.

Thus, the researchers could not condition warmth with an unpleasant event, and when another stimulus was linked to electrocution, the warmth pad suppressed the fear response. Hornstein found a similar effect back in 2018 with the presence of close caregivers. Both social proximity and physiological warmth activate the body's opioid system. Therefore, the researchers suspect that opioids may also play a role in the findings of the current experiment.

Spectrum of Science

We are a partner of Spektrum der Wissenschaft and want to make sound information more accessible to you. Follow Spektrum der Wissenschaft if you like the articles.

Originalartikel auf Spektrum.de
Titelbild: Elizaveta Galitckaia/Shutterstock

5 people like this article