How are physical touch and trust connected? Our research began with a systematic review of the two-way relationship between touch and trust in human and technology-mediated interactions. Read more: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Welcome to our new PhD candidate, Fatih! 👋 Fatih previously completed his Master’s thesis with us at CeTI, investigating virtual self-touch in immersive VR, emotion regulation, mindfulness, stress, and psychophysiological responses to acute stress.

New paper from our team: How do preferences for touch from friends change from adolescence to adulthood? Using the HandsOn app, we found that age, gender, body area, and relationship context all shape how touch is experienced. The study opens up important questions for socio-emotional learning

Our Chair, Prof. MerlecFairhurst, features in the latest 6G-life video, exploring how touch shapes human–machine interaction, emotional connection, and more intuitive technology. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bukD...

Virtual reality’s greatest potential may be connection. From social inclusion in Cyberball to trust-building with a virtual robot and shared musical experiences, VR can create meaningful bonds through presence, attention, and interaction. Read the article in our blog: tu-dresden.de/ing/elektrot...

Which functions of clinical touch can be technologically mediated? Our chapter in the forthcoming book Berührungsmedizin introduces the DSH classification of diagnostic, social, and salutary touch, and explores how wearables, robotics, and haptic systems could support clinical touch when

A new systematic review examines physical, human-to-human touch across healthcare professions, looking beyond its diagnostic and clinical functions to its communicative, social, and affective dimensions.

A new review explores how physical touch shapes emotional engagement, presence, and immersion across theme parks, immersive theatre, performance art, VR, gaming, and film. Can technology really reproduce the warmth and social meaning of human touch? journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

A new reference work on touch medicine is coming in 2026! Berührungsmedizin explores therapeutic touch from its neurobiological foundations and embodiment to clinical applications, ethics, training, and implementation. We’re looking forward to seeing our research referenced in this upcoming work.

Our manuscript “Disentangling touch aversion” has been accepted by the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior! The study examines how touch aversion varies across people and relationships, and highlights the roles of sensory sensitivity, threat sensitivity, and relationship context.

In this fascinating lecture, Prof. Robert Sapolsky traces decades of research on in- and out-group perception and explores how short- and long-term priming can influence neural activity, decision-making, behavior, and even performance. Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ib2...

Biracial Identities; Intersectionality; Eye Floaters | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews

Episode 120 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include how the amygdala processes “us” and “them” in biracial individuals, as well as in other cases of intersectional identities,…

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How does touch shape our sense of self? Our latest On the Pulse article explores how tactile processing and multisensory integration contribute to body awareness and ownership. Research shows that the brain can even “remap” touch, changing how we perceive where our body is and what belongs to it.

First results from the DFG-funded Synergia project: a new physics-based sonification approach transforms iOCT data, retinal anatomy, tool motion, and tissue deformation into real-time auditory feedback for subretinal injection. Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2605.14500

Can AI understand human emotions, and should it? This Nature Collection explores the promise and challenges of Artificial Emotional Intelligence, from healthcare and education to the ethical questions of privacy, bias, and accountability. Read more: www.nature.com/collections/...

What makes us feel truly present? In this socialBRIDGES keynote, Prof. Olaf Blanke explores the neuroscience of the sense of self, embodiment, and social presence in VR/XR, and how these insights shape the future of immersive technologies. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmqZ...

Neuroscience of the Sense of Self and its Relevance for Presence and Social Presence – Olaf Blanke

Neuroscience of the Sense of Self and its Relevance for Presence and Social Presence Prof. Olaf Blanke Swiss Federal Institute of Technology I will discuss the sense of self, especially the bodily…

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Our latest blog post explores new research suggesting that while the perception of softness is preserved in autism, the emotional experience of touch may differ, with important implications for touch research, haptics, and personalized therapies. Read: tu-dresden.de/ing/elektrot...

Can touch be part of medicine? In this #HealingHands short, Dr. Michaela Maria Arnold discusses how evidence-based touch can complement clinical care, helping patients reconnect with their bodies through presence, interoception, and compassionate care. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZKq...

Healing Hands: Touch In and As Medicine | Michaela Maria Arnold on Touch Medicine

Michaela Maria Arnold, MD, is a physician and state-certified massage therapist. As an expert in touch, she has dedicated many years to studying the healing effects of touch within a medical context.…

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Why do we seek social connection when we’re stressed? This review explores how the brain’s μ-opioid receptor (MOR) system regulates social bonding and emotion, proposing a state-dependent model that shows our motivation depends on our emotional state. Read: www.frontiersin.org/journals/beh...

In this #socialBRIDGES talk, @nicohinrichs.bsky.social explores how embodied cognition, active inference, and geometric network analysis can help explain inter-brain synchrony and the co-construction of presence. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YlE...

A Geometry for Sense-Making – Nicolás Hinrichs

A Geometry for Sense-Making Dr. Nicolás Hinrichs Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Presence emerges as a dynamic interplay of…

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What shapes our trust in AI, social robots, and other technologies? In this article, Merle Fairhurst and @irenevalori.bsky.social explore how human–technology trust is formed, how it differs from interpersonal trust, and why it matters for the future. Read: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In the latest #HealingHands video, Dasha Kolesnyk and Elise Seip discuss how research, haptotherapy, and embodied experience can come together to deepen our understanding of healing, emotion, and human connection. Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yPF...

Are we starting to think like AI? A fascinating new Forbes article explores how people are beginning to emulate the way they believe AI “thinks”—changing how they reason, write, and solve problems. As AI becomes part of everyday life, the question isn’t just how we shape AI but how AI is shaping us

People Are Altering Their Thinking To Think How They Think That AI Thinks

People are starting to emulate AI as to how they think AI thinks. But this is quite problematic. An AI Insider analysis and scoop.

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What can traditional midwives teach us about touch? In this #HealingHands interview, physician and medical anthropologist Marwa Saleh shares how her research with Kichwa midwives in the Ecuadorian Amazon reshaped her understanding of healthcare. Watch the interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QMm...

Does inter-brain synchrony drive social connection, or is it just an echo of shared sensory input? Can a human brain sync with an AI agent? Merle Fairhurst and @nicohinrichs.bsky.social are co-editing the NeuroImage Special Issue: "Between Brains, Across Agents: Toward Multi-Agent Neuroscience."

On June 6th, @irenevalori.bsky.social presented research on social touch in adolescence and stress regulation at #ESCAN2026. The findings show that adolescents are especially sensitive to social touch, with relationship context, body region, and gender dynamics strongly shaping their experiences.

Can touch be taught in medicine? In this #HealingHands interview, Michaela Maria Arnold discusses how touch helps build trust, communicate care, and support patients in vulnerable moments—and why it deserves more attention in medical training. Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-e...

In a new blog, team member Maryam Alipour argues that the true potential of touch in VR may lie not in realism, but in connection. Touch can help create trust, closeness, and social presence, even when it doesn’t perfectly replicate real-world sensations. Read: tu-dresden.de/ing/elektrot...?

Can touch be part of psychiatric care? In our Healing Hands interview series, Dr. Tobias Schwippel discusses touch as a fundamental element of psychiatric practice, while also reflecting on its limitations and the importance of professional boundaries. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yern...

Healing Hands: Touch In and As Medicine | Tobias Udo Schwippel

Dr. Tobias Schwippel is an Attending Physician at the Goethe University Frankfurt and from 2022 to 2024 was Director of Clinical Trials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His…

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Recorded last year, our Healing Hands: Touch in and as Medicine series features conversations with social psychologists, doctors, psychiatrists, anthropologists, and touch therapists about the role of touch in medicine, care, empathy, and healing. Watch the playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

The concept of LLMorphism describes the growing tendency to assume human cognition works like a large language model simply because AI can now produce human-like language. A fascinating paper exploring the psychological and societal implications of this shift. arxiv.org/abs/2605.05419