ArticleScience (New York, N.Y.)2022
Molecular and neural basis of pleasant touch sensation.
Article in Science (New York, N.Y.), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hypothalamic-amygdala gating of caregiving-like prosocial behavior in mice.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026Article
- Efficacy of suprapubic hot compress in preventing emergence agitation in patients with indwelling urinary catheters under general anesthesia: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of anesthesia · 2026Article
- The Pathogenicity Analysis of a Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism Patient With the Novel Variant in the Deep Intronic Region of the PROK2 Gene.Molecular genetics & genomic medicine · 2026Article
- Polygenic Prediction of Equestrian Sport Discipline Among Horses Bred for Jumping and Dressage.Animal genetics · 2026Article
- Social touch-like tactile stimulation alleviates stress-induced anxiety-like behavior by enhancing the oxytocin level in the prefrontal cortex.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Ketogenic Diet Promotes Reward Learning by Upregulating Hippocampal CAMK2A Expression and Activating Dopamine Synaptic Signaling.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Early-life maternal care is required for the typical development of calming responses to back stroking.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Review
- Biomimetic hairy affective-touch sensory AI interface.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Mrgprb4-Lineage Neurons Participate in the Intervention of TENS Effects on Chronic Pain and Anxiety-like Symptoms in an Inflammatory Pain Mouse Model.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Oxytocin Modulation of Spinal Circuits Drives Therapeutic Benefits of Massage.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Affective tactile stimulation ameliorates chronic pain and comorbid anxiety by modulating hippocampal CA1 oscillations and functional connectivity.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2026Article
- Tactile stimulation reverses painful stimuli outcomes via PVN-VTA oxytocin circuitry and dopaminergic regulation.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Innovations in spinal cord cell type heterogeneity across vertebrate evolution.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Dysfunction of the paraventricular thalamus-prelimbic cortex circuit underlies maternal separation-induced deficits in contagious pain.Science advances · 2025Article
- Enhanced Transdermal Delivery of Lidocaine Hydrochloride via Dissolvable Microneedles (LH-DMNs) for Rapid Local Anesthesia.Biosensors · 2025Article
- Early positive tactile stimulation reverses the increase of anxiety and decrease of sociality induced by early chronic mechanical pain in mandarin voles.Integrative zoology · 2025Article
- Embodiment of an artificial limb in mice.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Distinct oxytocin signaling pathways synergistically mediate rescue-like behavior in mice.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Acupoint massage: a comprehensive descriptive review of its forms, applications, and underlying mechanisms.Chinese medicine · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Pleasant touch provides emotional and psychological support that helps mitigate social isolation and stress. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using a pleasant touch-conditioned place preference (PT-CPP) test, we show that genetic ablation of spinal excitatory interneurons expressing prokineticin receptor 2 (PROKR2), or its ligand PROK2 in sensory neurons, abolishes PT-CPP without impairing pain and itch behaviors in mice. Mutant mice display profound impairments in stress response and prosocial behaviors. Moreover, PROKR2 neurons respond most vigorously to gentle stroking and encode reward value. Collectively, we identify PROK2 as a long-sought neuropeptide that encodes and transmits pleasant touch to spinal PROKR2 neurons. These findings may have important implications for elucidating mechanisms by which pleasant touch deprivation contributes to social avoidance behavior and mental disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.