Holding Hands Helps

In the first study of how human touch affects the body's response to stress and threatning situations, Dr. James Coan, a phychologist in the departments of psychology and neuroschience at the Universityh of Virginia, recurited married volunteers, slid them into MRI machines, and warned them to expect an electric shock on their ankles. When spouses reached into the machines to hold their respective partner's hand, a simple yet loving gesture of support, the part os the brain that registers the anticipation of pain "turned off".  The volunteers also said that they felt less distress

The hand holding also reduced agitation in the hypothalamus, the area of the brain that controls the release of stress hormones, which turn off our immune function. Eventually, a weakened immune system can make us sick.

"We can't see what our spouses are doing to our brains and emotions until a stressful event arises, but it's going on all the time." says Dr. Coan. "When a wife holds or caresses her husband, she is really reaching into the deepest parts of his brain, calming down the neural'threat response."

Can it be that easy access to a wifely hug after a fall out with a neighbor, or a pounding on the golf course is as potent as a tranquilizer or a beta blocker? It starts with the simple act of holding hand and hugging, long and loving embraces, several times a day, according to the latest science.