Here's why scientists say that holding hands is amazing for you
According to new research, it's a powerful pain relief.
We all witnessed this scene in a romantic drama in which a person sitting on a hospital bed wraps his hand around the hand of their beloved sick. Even if they are practically comatosed or hung on a breathing machine, you can see how simple this simple gesture relaxes their physical pain. Perhaps you have seen this almost miraculous relief yourself when someone you like has taken your hand in theirs.
It may seem like the reason it feels so good is just because it's a silent solidarity show when you are your most vulnerable. But, according to science, there is actually much more than that.
Anew study published this weekin theActs of the National Academy of SciencesI found that when romantic partners stand, their breathing, their heartbeat and even cerebral wave patterns are actually synchronized. According to pain researchers, the more these brainwaves are synchronized, the more the pain of them feel one or the other of them.
Pavel Goldstein, a postdoctoral pain researcher in the cognitive and emotional neuroscientific laboratory of Cu Boulder, proposed the idea of study after noticing that his wife's hand while giving birth to his daughter seemed to alleviate considerably his pain at work.
He and his colleagues from the University of Haifa recruited 22 heterosexual couples aged 23 and 32 which had been together for at least one year and measured their brain activity in scenarios in which they stood his hand, Do not hold hands, sitting together, sitting in separate pieces, and so on. They then repeated the same scenarios, but subjected the woman to a slight pain in the form of heat in her arm. They found that when the man touched his other significant at his moment of pain, their brain waves have synchronized and synchronization was particularly strong when they stood.
They also noted that the more empathetic man was in front of the pain of his partner, the more their brain waves are synchronized and the more his pain has appeased.
"It seems that the pain totally interrupts this interpersonal synchronization between the couples and the contact brings it back," Goldsteinsaid in the university newsletter.
Additional research must be made to conclude if the same results would occur with same-sex couples and non-romantic relationships, but for the moment, the study has important implications for the current data.
"We have developed many ways to communicate in the modern world and we have fewer physical interactions," Goldstein said. "This paper illustrates the power and importance of human contact."
For more tips on how to show your partner how much they mean for you, read50 easy ways of being a man (a lot) more romantic.
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