Touchy Feely

A touch on the arm from your partner or a friendly punch on the leg from a friend: both examples of social touching you might welcome. But what about other people you know? Adult volunteers were asked to pick areas of their bodies that male or female members of their social network (labelled in red or blue) would be allowed to touch. These body maps show the consensus of 1,368 volunteers from five European countries. White areas on the front of the body (top row) or the back (bottom row) show places where touching is allowed, becoming less comfortable through the orange and red areas, towards black. 'Taboo' zones, outlined in blue, are largest for distant acquaintances and strangers. How open we are to touching appears to directly reflect the closeness of our relationships – possibly allowing body mapping to help diagnose conditions like autism, where social touching is often rejected.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image adatped from work by Juulia Suvilehto and colleagues
• Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, School of Science, Aalto University, Finland
• Image copyright held by original authors; image reproduction permitted by PNAS
• Published in PNAS, November 2015