David J. Linden

touch

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Touch

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A superb book. My brain has been changed by reading it

Naomi Wolf, on the New York Times bestseller The Compass of Pleasure

A hugely entertaining look at why we enjoy the things we enjoy . . . There's hardcore biology here, but it's tempered with personal anecdotes and penetrating observations. If you're science phobic, don't worry: Linden is incredibly smart, but comes across as the funny, patient professor you wish you had had in college

NPR, on the New York Times bestseller The Compass of Pleasure

The Accidental Mind stands out for being highly readable and clearly educational . . . Linden tells his story well, in an engaging style, with plenty of erudition and a refreshing honesty about how much remains unknown

Nature, on the New York Times bestseller The Accidental Mind

Ambitious, engaging, and often irreverent

Choice, on the New York Times bestseller The Accidental Mind

The Science of Hand, Heart and Mind

Touch is the sense that makes us human. 
 
If you are born blind or deaf, your body and brain will mostly develop normally and you can live a rich life. But deprive a baby of social touch and they will have higher life-long levels of stress and fear. 
 
From why brushing fingers with a waiter will make you leave a larger tip, to why a hot drink in a job interview improves your chances, this is a mesmerising journey into our senses. With surprising stories and cutting-edge research on pleasure and pain, it shows how touch shapes our sense of self and bonds us together.

The Science of the Sense that Makes Us Human

Touch by David J. Linden - The astonishing secrets of our senses, and how to harness them to change your personal and professional life 
 
Why can't we tickle ourselves? 
Why do footballers who hug score more goals? 
Why does holding a hot coffee make us feel more positively about people? 
 
Touch is the sense that makes us human. It defines our experiences, shapes our sense of self, and bonds us together. It is the first sense to start working in utero. If you are deprived of the sense of sight or hearing from birth, you will still be able to live a rich and fruitful life. But depriving a baby of the sense of social touch has dramatic consequences: if they are not regularly touched and cared for, they will develop higher lifelong levels of stress, their personality will be more fearful, and they will be less likely to explore the world. 
 
In Touch, renowned neuroscientist David J. Linden shows how this overlooked sense actually shapes all our lives. Blending surprising stories and cutting-edge research on pleasure and pain, he takes us on a mesmerizing journey into our senses. 
From why brushing fingers with a waiter will make you leave a larger tip to why choosing a warm drink in a job interview improves your chances, Touch is full of astonishing discoveries. Reading it will change how you see - and touch - the world. 
 
It will be enjoyed by readers of Quiet by Susan Cain, Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin. 
 
David J. Linden is a professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the USA. The award-winning author of The Accidental Mind and The Compass of Pleasure, he served for many years as the chief editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his two children.

David Linden is a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, USA, and the award-winning author of The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God which was a New York Times bestseller. Since 2008 he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurophysiology, a role at the centre of the neuroscience research community. He lives in Baltimore.

Touch

The Science of Hand, Heart and Mind

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A superb book. My brain has been changed by reading it

Important, timely, fascinating

The Accidental Mind stands out for being highly readable and clearly educational . . . Linden tells his story well, in an engaging style, with plenty of erudition and a refreshing honesty about how much remains unknown

Ambitious, engaging, and often irreverent

About David J. Linden

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