Skin picking disorder studies
Reduction of Pathological Skin-Picking Via Expressive Writing: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Expressive writing is a form of personal writing about emotionally relevant topics (negative/traumatic experiences), whereby the form (spelling, grammar, etc.) is unimportant. A two-week intervention with a total of six writing sessions (approx. 15 minutes each) led to a reduction in the urge to manipulate one's own skin and to a decrease in symptom severity, especially in anxious patients with skin picking disorder.
To the publication: Link
Brain Mechanisms for Processing Caress-like Touch in Skin-Picking Disorder
Patients with skin picking disorder (SPD) and healthy control subjects received slow (CT-optimal) and fast touch with a brush on the forearm while their brain activation was recorded by fMRI. The touch was rated as less pleasant by subjects with SPD and triggered an increased urge to skinpick. This was accompanied by increased activation in frontal and parietal brain regions involved in processes of attentional control and integration of somatosensory information.
This study was funded by the FWF (KLI 824).
To the publication: Link
A neurobiological evaluation of soft-touch training for patients with skin-picking disorder
This study using functional magnetic resonance imaging investigated the effects of soft touch training (STT) on neural correlates of touch processing. Patients were randomly assigned to either a four-week STT training (guided soft touch of selected skin regions) or progressive muscle relaxation (guided tensing and relaxing of selected muscle regions). The app-based intervention consisted of 15-minute daily training sessions at home. STT reduced hyperactivation in brain regions associated with touch processing and symptom severity.
This study was funded by the FWF (KLI 824).
To the publication: Link
Atypical cerebellar activity and connectivity during affective touch in adults with skin-picking disorder
Patients with Skin-Picking Disorder (SPD) and healthy controls received affective and nonaffective touch to their forearms (slow vs. fast brushing) during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Being touched was perceived as more negative and arousing by the SPD group, and elicited a greater urge to perform skin-picking. During affective touch, those participants with SPD were characterized by reduced activity in lobule VIII, reduced functional connectivity of lobule VIII with the hippocampus, and increased connectivity with the superior parietal lobule. Since VIII is involved in the inhibition of movement, the present findings point to deficient motor control in SPD in the context of affective-sensory processing.
This study was funded by the FWF (KLI 824).
Publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37973691/
Discriminative and Affective Processing of Touch: Associations with Severity of Skin-picking
The present study examined whether the severity of skin-picking (SSP) is related to discriminative and affective touch processing. Replicating previous findings, females reported higher SSP. While the performance in the discrimination tests was not associated with SSP, affective touch processing was associated with SSP. Participants with high SSP reported an urge to pick their skin after being softly touched.
This study was funded by the FWF (KLI 824)
Publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36312223/