Cuddle Up Day

What the day is

Cuddle Up Day is observed on January 6, placed in the coldest, darkest stretch of the northern year, which is a sensible piece of scheduling.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented. The physiology is unusually well described.

Human skin carries a class of nerve fiber that appears to exist for affection rather than information. Most touch receptors report facts quickly: pressure, texture, temperature, location. These fibers are slow, they are found in hairy skin rather than the fingertips, and they respond most strongly to gentle stroking at roughly the speed of a hand moving a few centimeters a second, at about skin temperature. That is a startlingly specific tuning, and it corresponds almost exactly to how people instinctively stroke someone they are comforting. Their signals travel to regions handling emotion rather than to the areas that work out what an object is.

Touch also measurably changes how threat is processed. In a well-known experiment, people facing the prospect of a mild electric shock showed reduced activity in threat-related brain regions while holding a partner's hand, with the effect strongest in the strongest relationships. Being held does not merely feel better. It alters the response.

The clearest evidence concerns newborns. Skin-to-skin contact between a baby and a parent improves temperature regulation, feeding and survival for premature infants to a degree that health bodies now recommend it as standard care rather than a comfort measure.

One caveat belongs in any discussion of this. All of it depends on the touch being wanted. Unwanted touch produces the opposite response, and enthusiasm about the benefits is not a reason to assume consent from anyone, including children.

How to take part

• Ask first, every time, including with family.
• Hold hands with someone during something stressful rather than afterward.
• Slow down. The relevant fibers respond to slow movement and ignore brisk ones.
• Remember pets count. Stroking an animal that enjoys it works on the same system.
• If touch is scarce in your life, say so to someone. It is a common and rarely mentioned shortage.