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Touching the social robot PARO reduces pain perception and salivary oxytocin levels

Geva, Nirit, Uzefovsky, Florina, Levy-Tzedek, Shelly·2020·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/s41598-020-66982-yPMC PMC7299999
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Abstract

Human-human social touch improves mood and alleviates pain. No studies have so far tested the effect of human-robot emotional touch on experimentally induced pain ratings, on mood and on oxytocin levels in healthy young adults. Here, we assessed the effect of touching the robot PARO on pain perception, on mood and on salivary oxytocin levels, in 83 young adults. We measured their perceived pain, happiness state, and salivary oxytocin. For the 63 participants in the PARO group, pain was assessed in three conditions: Baseline, Touch (touching PARO) and No-Touch (PARO present). The control group (20 participants) underwent the same measurements without ever encountering PARO. There was a decrease in pain ratings and in oxytocin levels and an increase in happiness ratings compared to baseline only in the PARO group. The Touch condition yielded a larger decrease in pain ratings compared to No-Touch. These effects correlated with the participants’ positive perceptions of the interaction with PARO. Participants with higher perceived ability to communicate with PARO experienced a greater hypoalgesic effect when touching PARO. We show that human-robot social touch is effective in reducing pain ratings, improving mood and - surprisingly - reducing salivary oxytocin levels in adults.

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Metadata

Authors
Geva, N., Uzefovsky, F., & Levy-Tzedek, S.
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-06-17
Volume
10
Issue
1
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-020-66982-y
PMC
PMC7299999
Cited by
111
References
25
Language
en
Licence
Funders
Helmsley Charitable Trust, Marcus Endowment Fund, the Borten Family Foundation grants, the Israel Pain Association, the Rosetrees Trust, Consolidated Anti-Aging Foundation

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