Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35606459›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2022

The suppression of spontaneous face touch and resulting consequences on memory performance of high and low self-touching individuals.

Jente L Spille, Martin Grunwald, Sven Martin, Stephanie M Mueller

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Assessing the behavior of food handlers wearing face masks and the passage of bacteria through disposable masks.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2025
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jente L SpilleHaptic Research Laboratory, Paul Flechsig Institute - Centre of Neuropathology and Brain Research, University of Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Martin GrunwaldHaptic Research Laboratory, Paul Flechsig Institute - Centre of Neuropathology and Brain Research, University of Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Sven MartinHaptic Research Laboratory, Paul Flechsig Institute - Centre of Neuropathology and Brain Research, University of Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Stephanie M MuellerHaptic Research Laboratory, Paul Flechsig Institute - Centre of Neuropathology and Brain Research, University of Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. s.mueller@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Spontaneous touching of one's own face (sFST) is an everyday behavior that occurs primarily in cognitively and emotionally demanding situations, regardless of a persons' age or gender. Recently, sFST have sparked scientific interest since they are associated with self-inoculation and transmission of respiratory diseases. Several studies addressed the need to reduce sFST behaviors without discussing the underlying functions of this spontaneous behavior. In addition, the question of why this behavior occurs very frequently in some individuals (high self-touching individuals, HT) but less frequently in others (low self-touching individuals, LT) has not yet been addressed. For the first time, we distinguished between HT and LT and investigated the behavioral consequences of sFST suppression in these two groups. For this purpose, we examined performance outcomes of 49 participants depending on sFST behaviors during a haptic working memory task. In addition, we assessed personality traits of HT and LT using the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI-R). The results of our study reveal that suppressing sFST in HT is negatively related to memory performance outcomes. Moreover, HT show tendencies to differ from LT in certain personality traits. Our results highlight the relevance of distinguishing between HT and LT in future studies of sFST.

Indexed as

BehaviorFaceMemory, Short-TermPersonalityTouchCognitionHumansMemoryTouch Perception

Identifiers

PMID35606459
PMCPMC9125538

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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.