Why warm hugs and natural skin cues make us feel good

Small body signals guide inner comfort more than we realize. A cool breeze on skin or warm air in a cozy room can stir quiet reactions inside us, gently nudging calm feelings and subtle shifts in our focus.

Cold air outdoors or warm air indoors can make a person notice skin cues fast. Even a tiny rise or drop in heat can pull focus inward. Such gentle shifts demonstrate an old link between body and brain.

In a new study, researchers says that skin-based cues play a key part in shaping personal identity, emotional calm, and overall mental balance.

Temperature guides self

Thermosensory cues influence far more than comfort. Experimental work shows clear links between skin cues and body ownership. Warm or cool input shapes how a person senses embodied presence.

Neural pathways send cutaneous signals from receptors into spinal routes, onward to thalamic hubs, and into insular zones.

Posterior insula regions handle implicit temperature cues, while anterior zones support conscious appraisal of warmth or cold . Parietal regions join that process and support spatial grounding of each limb.

Early roots matter

Across long ages, cues from cold and heat played a major role in human growth as a species. Cold landscapes pushed early humans toward larger body size, as a bigger body can save more heat and prevent rapid energy loss.

Warm skin contact also played a vital part in early life. Gentle skin-to-skin care gave newborns steady heat, supported safe survival, and kept small bodies from losing too much warmth.

Close skin contact did more than save life. Calm, warm care helped newborns gain a sense of comfort inside skin, building early bodily awareness.

Warm contact also helped form secure bonds between infant and caregiver, giving early support for social and emotional growth.

Over many ages, such survival demands shaped human minds as well as human bodies. Early cues from cold air, warm skin, and safe contact guided not only comfort but also self-sense, emotional style, and social connection.

As a result, ancient pressure from cold environments and warm care left deep marks on human cognition and personal identity.

Warm skin cues shift ownership

Cutaneous cues influence ownership illusions in controlled experiments. Warm input can weaken proprioceptive drift, while cold input can enhance it . Some illusions prompt a drop in hand temperature when a person senses ownership of a fake limb.

Other illusions prompt bilateral shifts that extend beyond the stimulated side. Clinical studies reveal clearer causal patterns. Individuals with right hemisphere damage and disturbed ownership show reduced hand temperature and impaired warm and cold sensitivity.

Lesion mapping links those signs to posterior and anterior insular regions and to disrupted thalamo parietal connections.Altered awareness often appears in mood disorders, eating disorders, and trauma.

“Temperature is one of our most ancient senses,” said Dr. Laura Crucianelli, lecturer in psychology at Queen Mary University of London. Warmth from early life shapes comfort, identity, and well-being.

Heat’s impact on the mind

Extreme heat or cold influences cognition. Cold immersion harms memory. Hot environments slow executive work or shift accuracy patterns during complex tasks.

As global temperatures rise, subtle distortions in bodily integrity may grow more common. Dr. Crucianelli and Professor Gerardo Salvato of the University of Pavia identified possible links between heat exposure, mood, and inner stability.

Large-scale climate shifts may challenge internal balance and change how humans manage stress.

Skin cues support calm

Many people ask why warm hugs feel grounding. “When we hug, the combination of tactile and thermal signals increases our sense of body ownership” said Dr. Crucianelli.

Warm cutaneous input engages interoceptive pathways into insular regions. Oxytocin rises. Stress markers fall. Sense of self grows steadier.

“Warm touch reminds us that we are connected, valued, and part of a social world,” said Dr. Crucianelli.

A core part of our identity

Ongoing work proposes two frameworks for these effects. One model suggests active prediction and regulation of internal state.

Another model suggests resource withdrawal from body parts no longer sensed as “mine” during illusions. Both models view cutaneous signals as a core part of bodily identity.

Warm contact, early care, climate patterns, and clinical insight all point in one direction. Skin cues guide selfhood. Thermal signals shape presence, grounding, and emotional life.

That ancient dialogue continues each time warm hands meet cold air or two people share a hug.

The study is published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

—–

Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates. 

Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

—–