New research reveals why warm hugs make us feel so good about ourselves

Research highlights the effect of temperature on our awareness of our own bodies, improving our understanding of “skin-to-brain” signals 

Wide range of potential applications including sensory-based interventions for mental health, more natural-feeling prosthetics  

As winter closes in, you might start to notice your fingers and toes freezing when you go outside, or your face flushing hot when you go into a heated building. In these moments of changing temperature, we become more aware of our bodies. 

Until now, bodily temperature has been seen as a purely physiological signal. But a new review published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences looks at how ‘thermoception’ – our perception of changes in skin temperature, such as a warm hug or a chill in the air – influences how strongly we experience our bodies as “our own.” 

The article, by Dr Laura Crucianelli, Lecturer in Psychology at Queen Mary University of London and Professor Gerardo Salvato of the University of Pavia, reviews decades of research in neuroscience, psychology and clinical science. The findings expand the neuroscience of bodily self-awareness to include temperature, revealing a previously overlooked pathway through which the body communicates with the brain.  

The researchers propose that the link between thermoception and body temperature regulation contributes not only to survival and comfort, but also touches on emotion, identity, and mental health. 

“Temperature is one of our most ancient senses,” says Dr Crucianelli. “Warmth is one of the earliest signals of protection – we feel it in the womb, in early caregiving, and whenever someone holds us close. It keeps us alive, but it also helps us feel like ourselves. By studying how the brain interprets warmth and cold, we can begin to understand how the body shapes the mind.” 

Altered body awareness is a feature of several mental health conditions, including eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders. Sufferers can feel a sense of detachment or disconnection from themselves.  Clinical evidence from stroke, anorexia nervosa and body integrity dysphoria shows that disruptions in thermal perception may accompany disturbances in body ownership.  

Dr Salvato says: “For example, we now know from experimental studies that thermal signals play a fundamental role in clinical conditions. People with altered temperature regulation and temperature perception, due to a brain stroke, may develop pathological conditions according to which they do not recognize part of their bodies as belonging to themselves”.  

Beyond the lab, these findings carry wide implications.  Understanding the contribution of thermal signals and the “skin-to-brain" dialogue opens up possible new avenues for identifying mechanisms of vulnerability and developing sensory-based interventions for mental health. For example, it may improve rehabilitation for neurological patients, inform the design of prosthetics that feel more natural, and guide mental health interventions.  

The review also highlights the potential impact of climate change and extreme temperature exposure on body awareness and cognition.  Drs Crucianelli and Salvato adds, “As global temperatures rise, understanding how warmth and cold shape the relationship with ourselves may help explain shifts in mood, stress, and bodily awareness in everyday life”. 

So why DO warm hugs make us feel good about ourselves? 

“When we hug, the combination of tactile and thermal signals increases our sense of body ownership, so we are more connected to our embodied sense of self,” says Dr Crucianelli. “Feeling warm touch on the skin enhances our ability to sense ourselves from the inside and recognise our own existence. We feel, ‘this is my body, and I am grounded in it.’” 

Scientifically put, warm interpersonal contact engages specialised C-tactile afferents and thermosensitive pathways that project to the insular cortex, facilitating interoceptive signalling associated with safety and affective regulation. This sensory input is accompanied by oxytocin release and reductions in physiological stress, supporting social bonding and enhancing bodily self-awareness, and ultimately, wellbeing. 

In other words, “Warm touch reminds us that we are connected, valued, and part of a social world,” says Dr Crucianelli. “Humans are wired for social closeness, and hugs briefly dissolve the boundary between ‘self’ and ‘other’.”