When we touch ourselves, the skin sends two types of messages to the brain: one about what exactly we feel (texture, moisture, temperature), the other about whether we find it pleasant. With age, the first message gets quieter, and the second gets louder. Scientists figured this out by asking 43 women of different ages to apply cream to a cheek or forearm and describe their sensations.
Young women easily distinguished how smooth, moist, or cool the cream was. Older women sensed these details less well but more often said the touch was pleasant and warm.
Negative emotions didn't change, though: no one found it unpleasant.
Scientists already knew that skin sensitivity declines with age, but they didn't understand exactly how the balance between sensations and emotions shifts. Now it's clear: sensory sensations weaken, while positive emotions grow stronger. This knowledge will help create creams and care products that give older people more joy from touch, even if their skin no longer picks up subtle textures.
In older people, touching their own skin evokes more positive emotions than in young people, even though they discriminate texture and moisture less well. It's similar to how, with age, we begin to appreciate not the details but the overall impression.
In William Gibson's novel Neuromancer, tactile sensations are transmitted through simulation, where emotional coloring can matter more than physical accuracy. The study shows that with age, the emotional component of touch indeed comes to the fore, echoing the idea that perception is shaped not only by sensory data but also by internal state.
Not published on arXiv. Here are its page, the PDF and the formalization: you can check it yourself, not only read our account.