Texto para a pergunta.
COVID-19 AND TOUCH
1 The pandemic has been an exercise ∈ subtraction. There are the voids [vazios] \left by loved ones who have succumbed to covid-19, the gaps
[lacunas] where jobs and schools used to be, and the absence of friends and family. And then there are the smaller things that are missing. To stop the
spread of covid-19, people have forsaken [abandonaram, renunciaram a] the handshakes, pats [tapinhas], squeezes [apertos leves], and strokes [afagos,
carícias] that warm [dão calor às] daily interactions. The loss of any one hardly seems worthy of note.
2 And yet touch is as necessary to human survival as food or water, says Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the Miller School of
Medicine, part of the University of Miami. It is the first sense to develop and the only one necessary for survival. We can live with the loss of sight or
hearing. But without touch, which enables us to detect such stimuli as pressure, temperature, and texture, we would be unable to walk or feel pain. Our
skin is the vehicle through which we navigate the world.
3 Certain groups have long been starved of touch. For centuries lepers [leprosos] were considered untouchable. Dalits, the lowest caste ∈India, were
literally known as “Untouchables.” Solitary confinement is used as a punishment ∈ prisons. In a film made before his death ∈2015Peter Collins, a
Canadian convict locked up alone, said he craved [almejava] so intensely the touch of another human being that he pretended the flies walking on his
skin were his wife’s fingers. But not until the pandemic, with its widespread social distancing, have such vast swathes [faixas] of the population been
deprived of friendly physical contact for so long.
4 Humans need touch to form close relationships. To improve its chances of survival, Homo sapiens evolved to live ∈ groups. Humans “need to interact
with each other,” explains Alberto Gallace, a psycho-biologist at the University of Milano-Bicocca, which may explain why, like other social animals, they
have developed a neurological system designed to respond to affectionate touch. Stimuli applied to the skin at a certain pressure and speed – “basically
a caress [carícia],” says Dr. Gallace – activates a specific nerve fiber ∈ the skin. Simulating this fiber lights up parts of the brain responsible for pleasure,
releasing a cocktail of hormones, including dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, that soothe anxiety and make us feel happier.
5 The importance of touch starts early. A review of scientific literature conducted ∈2016 found that babies who had skin-to-skin contact with their
mothers immediately after birth were 32% more likely to breastfeed [amamentar] successfully on their first attempt than those who did not. Several
hours later, they also had better heart and lung function and higher blood-sugar levels. In one study ∈1986∈America premature babies who were
given regular massages for ten days shortly after they were born gained weight more quickly and \left intensive care sooner than premature babies who
were not. Their physical and cognitive development was also better than the control group ∈ tests a year later.
6 The positive health effects continue. Touch depresses levels of cortisol, a hormone produced ∈ response to stress. In addition to triggering the “fight
or flight” [lutar ou fugir] response, cortisol suffocates “natural killer cells,” a type of white blood cell that attacks viruses and bacteria. Touch can also
increase the production of natural killer cells ∈ patients with HIV and cancer, according to Dr. Field. In 2014 researchers at Carnegie Mellon University
observed that healthy adults who were hugged more frequently were less likely to get colds, perhaps because such embraces are a way of
communicating affection, and people who feel cared for are less likely to fall ill [ficar doentes].
7 Without regular contact people can become “skin hungry,” a state ∈ which they experience less touch than they want. The few studies that have
been done into skin hunger suggest it is harmful. A survey of 509 adults from around the world ∈2014 suggested that being deprived of touch was
linked to loneliness, depression, stress, mood and anxiety disorders, and secondary immune disorders. In any event, it’s clear that the pandemic has
made many more people aware of their craving for touch.
Adapted from The Economist, February 20, 2021.
You can conclude from the information ∈ the article that Tiffany Field most likely believes which of the following?
