Do you really know｜为什么身体接触对我们的健康很重要？
英音听力｜BBC & 经济学人等
Why is physical contact important for our health?
When it comes to expressions about skin, the English language is not lacking. For example, we can be thick or thin-skinned, or have someone under our skin. To show indifference, we say, it's no skin off our noses. And when we get excited, we jump out of our skin.
The sheer number of different idioms reflects the deep links the skin has with our brains. Sometimes these links are visible and give away our feelings, when we blush, go pale or get goose bumps. The same can be said for stress too, in the case of some skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis.
Does it work the opposite way around too, with the skin sending information to the brain?
It sure does. Holding hands, shaking hands, or hugging a loved one calms us down precisely because our skin is made up of nerve endings which are connected to the brain. There are 600,000 of these sensory captors in total. They detect vibrations, pressure, and other sensations. It's fair to say we are, by nature, tactile beings.
How does touch affect health then?
There are a number of virtues of what some experts call social touch or effective touch. Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on people's mental health, and the lack of social touch may be partly behind it.
It releases endorphins and therefore reduces pain. It also reduces blood pressure by bringing cortisol and stress levels down. It releases pleasure hormone dopamine and so-called love hormone oxytocin.
These are just a few of the health benefits we can get. Studies have also shown that physical touch helps animals' brains to develop. And it's believed the same goes for human beings.
So in the future, remember how powerful the impact of touch can be on your body, and try to introduce more of it into your life, of course remembering that consent is key, and that you need to respect other people's privacy spheres. There you have it.
词汇表
thick-skinned [θɪk skɪnd] adj. 厚脸皮的，感觉迟钝的
thin-skinned [θɪn skɪnd] adj. 脸皮薄的，敏感的
have someone under one's skin 惹某人心烦，惹恼某人
it's no skin off one's nose 与某人毫不相干，对某人无所谓
jump out of one's skin 欣喜若狂，大吃一惊
sheer number [ʃɪə] 数量之多，庞大数量
blush [blʌʃ] vi. 脸红，羞愧
pale [peɪl] adj. （脸色）苍白的，黯淡的
goose bumps [ɡuːs bʌmps] 鸡皮疙瘩
eczema [ˈeksɪmə] n. 湿疹
psoriasis [səˈraɪəsɪs] n. 牛皮癣，银屑病
nerve endings [nɜːv ˈendɪŋz] 神经末梢
sensory captors [ˈsensəri ˈkæptəz] 感觉接收器，感官捕捉器
vibration [vaɪˈbreɪʃən] n. 振动，颤动
sensation [senˈseɪʃən] n. 感觉，知觉，触觉
tactile beings [ˈtæktaɪl ˈbiːɪŋz] 触觉生物，喜欢触碰的生物
virtue [ˈvɜːtjuː] n. 益处，优点
social distancing [ˈdɪstənsɪŋ] 社交隔离，保持社交距离
endorphin [enˈdɔːfɪn] n. 内啡肽（能止痛和产生快感的激素）
cortisol [ˈkɔːtɪsɒl] n. 皮质醇（压力激素）
dopamine [ˈdəʊpəmiːn] n. 多巴胺（与快乐、奖赏相关的神经递质）
oxytocin [ˌɒksɪˈtəʊsɪn] n. 催产素（与爱与亲密感相关的激素）
consent [kənˈsent] n. 同意，准许
privacy spheres [ˈprɪvəsi sfɪəz] 个人空间，隐私领域
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