How the brain codes intimacy: The neurobiological substrates of romantic touch
Open accessAbstract
Humans belong to a minority of mammalian species that exhibit monogamous pair-bonds, thereby enabling biparental care of offspring. The high reward value of interpersonal closeness and touch in couples is a key proximate mechanism facilitating the maintenance of enduring romantic bonds. However, surprisingly, the neurobiological underpinnings mediating the unique experience of a romantic partner's touch remain unknown. In this randomized placebo (PLC)-controlled, between-group, pharmacofunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study involving 192 healthy volunteers (96 heterosexual couples), we intranasally administered 24 IU of the hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) to either the man or the woman. Subsequently, we scanned the subjects while they assumed that they were being touched by their romantic partners or by an unfamiliar person of the opposite sex, although in reality an identical pattern of touch was always given by the same experimenter. Our results show that intranasal OXT compared to PLC selectively enhanced the subjective pleasantness of the partner's touch. Importantly, intranasal OXT selectively increased responses to partner touch in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and anterior cingulate cortex. Under OXT, NAcc activations to partner touch positively correlated with the subjects' evaluation of their relationship quality. Collectively, our results suggest that OXT may contribute to the maintenance of monogamous relationships in humans by concomitantly increasi…
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Oxytocin specifically increases the hedonic value of a romantic partner's touch.
“for example, by specifically increasing the hedonic value of a romantic partner's touch (Kreuder et al., 2017).”
From Oxytocin enhances the pain‐relieving effects of social support in romantic couples (2019) · cites this paper as Kreuder et al., 2017
Oxytocin plays a crucial role in the maintenance of romantic relationships.
“Our results corroborate recent conceptualizations that OXT plays a crucial role in the maintenance of romantic relationships (Hurlemann & Scheele, 2016), for example, by specifically increasing the hedonic value of a romantic partner's touch (Kreuder et al., 2017).”
From Oxytocin enhances the pain‐relieving effects of social support in romantic couples (2019) · cites this paper as Kreuder et al., 2017
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“Likewise, individuals touched by their romantic partner demonstrate increased neural activation of touch-related networks (e.g., orbital frontal, posterior cingulate, and somatosensory cortices) when compared to neuronal activity during touch from an experimenter (Kreuder et al., 2017).”
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BackgroundCoenjaerts, M., Adrovic, B., Trimborn, I., Philipsen, A., Hurlemann, R., & Scheele, D. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-29754-y · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationLoneliness and social conformity: A predictive processing perspective
Haihambo, N. P., Layiwola, D., Blank, H., Hurlemann, R., & Scheele, D. (2025) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.15324 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationSauer, C., Montag, C., Reuter, M., & Kirsch, P. (2019) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.06.005 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
A Protective Mechanism against Illusory Perceptions Is Amygdala-Dependent
Spengler, F. B., Scheele, D., Kaiser, S., Heinrichs, M., & Hurlemann, R. (2019) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2577-18.2019 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Furthermore, we have previously shown that intranasal OXT modulates the processing of affective touch in a context-dependent manner rather than altering touch perception per se (Scheele et al., 2014; Kreuder et al., 2017).”
BackgroundSelf-citationFukuoka, A., Kitada, R., Makita, K., Makino, T., Sakakihara, N., Nummenmaa, L., & Kosaka, H. (2025) · Molecular Autism · doi:10.1186/s13229-025-00666-0 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Ghrelin is related to lower brain reward activation during touch
Pfabigan, D., Frogner, E. R., Schéle, E., Thorsby, P., Skålhegg, B., Dickson, S., & Sailer, U. (2023) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/2022.05.10.491384 · Cited by 9
“, 2016) and nucleus accumbens (Kreuder et al., 2017; McCabe et al., 2008) has also been reported occasionally.”
BackgroundBorland, J. M. (2025) · Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2025.101175 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The Thanatopedagogical Context of the Multidimensionality of Mourning
Binnebesel, J., Formella, Z., & Katolyk, H. (2023) · Białostockie Studia Prawnicze · doi:10.15290/bsp.2023.28.03.10 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Debrot, A., Stellar, J. E., Dan‐Glauser, E., & Klumb, P. L. (2024) · Journal of Nonverbal Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10919-024-00455-y · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Another study showed a greater pain reducing effect (Kreuder et al., 2019) and a more pleasant perception (Kreuder et al., 2017) of touch when participants believed their partner was touching them as opposed to a stranger.”
BackgroundResultLarkey, L., James, T., Han, S.-Y., & James, D. L. (2023) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2023.102918 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Ditzen, B., Eckstein, M., Fischer, M. S., & Aguilar‐Raab, C. (2019) · Psychotherapeut · doi:10.1007/s00278-019-00379-9 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“Darüber hinaus gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass die Neubildung adulter Nervenzellen durch Oxytozin unterstützt wird (Leuner et al. 2012).”
BackgroundPrairie voles as a model for adaptive reward remodeling following loss of a bonded partner
Sadino, J., & Donaldson, Z. (2024) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.15134 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“91 Supporting this shift in accumbal activation by a bonded partner, long-term, bond-induced changes have been examined at multiple biological levels in prairie voles.”
BackgroundRee, A., Morrison, I., Olausson, H., Sailer, U., Heilig, M. A., & Mayo, L. M. (2019) · Journal of Visualized Experiments · doi:10.3791/59228 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Friedrich, Y., Faresse, S., Henning, C., Trotter, P. D., Ackerley, R., & Croy, I. (2024) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2024.112890 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Yang, Y., Wang, C., Shi, J.-N., & Zou, Z.-L. (2024) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.109003 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Body Perception and Social Touch Preferences in Times of Grief
Enmalm, A., & Boehme, R. (2024) · Journal of loss & trauma · doi:10.1080/15325024.2024.2316117 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“So far, research on functions of social touch mostly focused on intimate relationships (Cascio et al., 2019; Kreuder et al., 2017), or on pain modulation (Che et al., 2021; Goldstein et al., 2018; Savallampi et al., 2023).”
The Interprocessual-Self Theory in Support of Human Neuroscience Studies
Luís, E. O., Akrivou, K., Bermejo‐Martins, E., Scalzo, G. R., & Semper, J. V. O. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.686928 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Embracing the void: exploring the relationship between chronic loneliness and social touch
Packheiser, J., Ocklenburg, S., Hurlemann, R., & Scheele, D. (2025) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101590 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Finally, the affective relationship between individuals should be taken into account, as touch from strangers is generally perceived as less pleasant compared to touch from a romantic partner [60].”
Self-citationDoerr, J. M., Klaus, K., Troxel, W., Nater, U. M., Bodenmann, G., Heinrichs, M., Ehlert, U., & Ditzen, B. (2022) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000001091 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“More specifically, OT increased the appraisal of positive aspects within one’s own relationship (24) and improved the stress-reducing effects of social touch (25,26), suggesting it to mediate the processing of social safety signals (27).”
BackgroundThe transient joys of others—neural ensembles encode social approach in bonded voles
Phelps, S. M., & Gustison, M. L. (2020) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · doi:10.1073/pnas.2006307117 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Böhm, P., Pflüger, L. S., Pink, K. E., Huffman, M. A., & Wallner, B. (2024) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-023-02781-6 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Oxytocin, widely known as the “cuddling hormone,” has been the focus of numerous studies and is associated with both pair bonding and stress relief (Chen et al., 2020; Jakubiak & Feeney, 2019; Kreuder et al., 2017; Morrison, 2016; Portnova et al., 2020; Wallner et al., 2006).”
BackgroundAltered Reward Processing in Abstinent Dependent Cannabis Users: Social Context Matters
Zimmermann, K., Kendrick, K., Scheele, D., Dau, W., Banger, M., Maier, W., Weber, B., Ma, Y.-N., Hurlemann, R., & Becker, B. (2018) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/278044 · Cited by 2
“…each ‘CLOSE’ and ‘TOUCH’ trial subjects rated the perceived pleasantness (1 (unhappy emoticon) ‘very unpleasant’ to 20 (happy emoticon) ‘very pleasant’, see also Scheele et al., 2014; Kreuder et al., 2017; based on the SAM non-verbal assessment for affective experience (Bradley & Lang, 1994)).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationSusinna, C., Buono, V. L., Marafioti, G., Anselmo, A., Culicetto, L., Quartarone, A., McGlone, F., & Cazzato, V. (2026) · Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106833 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Oxytocin Modulation of Explicit Pandemic Stigma in Men with Varying Social Anxiety Levels.
Wang, Y.-W., Zhu, J., Wang, J., & Mu, Y. (2024) · Neuropharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110140 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Capelli, E., Grumi, S., Fullone, E., Rinaldi, E., & Provenzi, L. (2022) · Rorschachiana · doi:10.1027/1192-5604/a000153 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Sex- and Context-dependent Effects of Oxytocin on Social Reward ProcessingPreprint
Ma, X.-L., Zhao, W.-H., Luo, R., Zhou, F., Geng, Y., Xu, L., Gao, Z., Zheng, X.-X., Becker, B., & Kendrick, K. (2018) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/274027 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Mueller, C., Spindler, M., Caspers, S., & Hurlemann, R. (2021) · Masterclass in neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-86630-3_2 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationWu, Y., Gan, X.-Y., Jiao, G., Hurlemann, R., Scheele, D., Zhou, X.-Q., Zhang, R., Zhou, F., Jiang, H., Fu, K., et al. (2026) · bioRxiv · doi:10.64898/2026.08.10.744060
“Finally, the present study did not explicitly examine the role of attachment style or sex, which may shape the neural representation of love and its modulation by oxytocin 90,91 .”
Self-citationLe sexe prépare le cerveau à l’attachement
Thirion, S., & Jacquemont, G. (2023) · Cerveau & Psycho · doi:10.3917/cerpsy.154.0036
Chen, Y.-S., Zou, H.-C., Hou, X., Lan, C., Wang, J., Qing, Y.-N., Chen, W.-J., Yao, S.-X., & Kendrick, K. (2023) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2023.01.04.23284204
Oxytocin & well-being as promoters of affect regulation and homeostasis: a neuroscientific review
Nogueira-Vale, E., de Almeida, N. A., & Costa, M. F. (2020) · Psico · doi:10.15448/1980-8623.2020.2.30291
“…the partner, although, some genderspecific variations were found in sexual behavior (Behnia et al, 2014; Ditzen et al, 2013): touch with partner and value of soft interpersonal touch seems to be facilitated by OT, and may contribute to enduring romantic bonds and monogamy (Kreuder et al, 2017).”
BackgroundSubject sex and partner sex modulate social touch responses across multiple cortical areas
Ebbesen, C. L., Bobrov, E., Rao, R. P., & Brecht, M. (2019) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/545434
Zhao, W.-H., Becker, B., Yao, S.-X., Ma, X.-L., Kou, J., & Kendrick, K. (2018) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/416123
“…(Hung et al., 2017), which together with previous findings on an oxytocinergic amplification of expectancy-related processing in the underlying pathways in humans (Scheele et al., 2014; Kreuder et al., 2017) may suggest a contribution of oxytocin-dopamine interactions on the present findings.”
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Bowman, L. C. (2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-809324-5.23066-6 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“Studies have ranged from neuroimaging of sexual partners during intimate touch (Kreuder et al., 2017), to quantifying the behavioral effects of casual touch between strangers in a brief encounter such as the effects of touch between a server and patron in a restaurant (Jones and Yarbrough, 1985).”
- Authors
- Kreuder, A.-K., Scheele, D., Wassermann, L., Wollseifer, M., Stoffel-Wagner, B., Lee, M. R., Hennig, J., Maier, W., & Hurlemann, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Department of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology; University of Bonn; Bonn 53127 Germany
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (US)
- Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE)
- Venue
- Human Brain Mapping
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-06-05
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 4525-4534
- ISSN
- 1065-9471 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6867116
- OpenAlex
- W2624003901
- Cited by
- 89
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 10
- FWCI
- 19.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Human Brain Mapping (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DZNE Pub (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) (HU1202/4-1, BE 5465/2-1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Keywords
- intimacy, oxytocin, nucleus accumbens, anterior cingulate cortex, relationship quality, relationship closeness, pharmacological fMRI
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Oxytocin, Psychotropic Drugs, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Partners, Social Perception, Touch Perception
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