Research on Sense of Touch shares Nobel Prize win
a scientist whose research led to the discovery of how our bodies can feel the warmth of the hug from a loved one has won the Nobel Prize (jointly with Scientist who discovered how our bodies feel the warmth of the sun)
The Nobel Prize Committee stated: "It was a very important and profound discovery."
Ardem Patapoutian shares the 2021 prize in Medicine or Physiology for his research on sensing touch and understanding how our bodies convert physical sensations into electrical messages in the nervous system. This discovery could lead to changing the way we currently treat pain.
Touch allows us to experience the world around us, but how it happens has been a biological mystery until now. Experiments led to the discovery of a previously unknown type of receptor that is activated in response to touch. Feeling grass under your feet - it is these receptors that send messages to the brain and have since been shown to play a significant role in the body and in some diseases including chronic pain. This helps explain why we believe human touch is so important, be it for example cuddling or massage. We now have further scientific proof!