Mechanism of the relaxation effect by touch stimulation

• Project/Area Number: 15K13138
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Clinical psychology
• Research Institution: Shinshu University
• Principal Investigator: Takase Hiroki 信州大学, 学術研究院人文科学系, 准教授 (60345725)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
• Keywords: タッチ / リラクセーション / 呼吸

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, a touch stimulation device was developed, which is required when testing the relaxation effect of touch by experiments. In the experiment on the effects of touch, it is necessary to control the relationship between two people in contact and to control the tempo and intensity of touch stimulation accurately, so the touch stimulation device using PVC gel actuator that can present various patterns of touch stimulation was developed.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

タッチの効果を検証する際には，タッチする側とされる側の関係性（親密度など）の統制や，タッチ刺激のテンポ・強度などを正確に統制する必要がある。本研究では，これらの条件をクリアするために，様々なタッチ刺激を提示可能な「タッチ刺激装置」を製作した。今後，この装置を用いて，タッチのリラクセーション効果を検証する研究を進めることが可能となった。