Storia naturale del tatto

“Touch comes before sight, before speech,” writes Margaret Atwood in her novel The Blind Assassin. “It is the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth.” Our biology confirms this. Touch is the sense through which we first encounter the world and the last to leave us when we are on the threshold of death. Among the five senses, it is the most pervasive, manifesting in profoundly different ways. It informs us about the physical forces acting on us, such as temperature and pressure, and allows us to establish meaningful connections with others. But above all, through the touch of our hands, we can express and convey emotions: no other sense has the healing power of a loving caress for a child or a partner, making it fundamental in shaping our identity.
Yet, for this very reason, touch is also the sense most influenced by moral conventions. Over time, our ways of relating to others have constantly evolved, and touch has become both a tool of transformation and a lens through which we interpret society. Just consider how physical interactions have changed after #MeToo or COVID-19: the introduction of social distancing, the limitation of handshakes and hugs, and the recognition of touch as a potentially coercive or unsettling force.
In this unique Natural History of Touch, neuroscientist and university professor Laura Crucianelli blends her clinical research experience with psychological studies, current events, and personal readings, crafting a surprising and unprecedented portrait of our first and most underestimated sense.