For the ten million or so people that saw Fifty Shades of Grey this past weekend, or the many more millions who read the books, in a way what they were doing is trying to understand touch.  The complex ways in which our bodies and our brains process pleasure and pain. Why childhood development is so crucial to that process and the ways in which touch shapes our sexuality,  our cooperation, our well being and our own internal interaction between the physical and emotional world.   

Professor of neuroscience David Linden, examines this interface in his new book  Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind.

My conversation with David J. Linden: