Neuroscientists show how brain responds to sensual caress

Until now, medicos thought that first we perceived touch, then we assigned meaning to it. This study indicates that, in heterosexual men anyway, meaning is assigned to touch at the same moment the touch is perceived.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604155709.htm#.T84zYXI1EKw.mailto

Fortunately, they do plan on investigating other demographic groups, including other ages, gender and sexual orientations.

I tend to assume that men are hot-wired to respond positively to sensual touch, in a way that seems pretty indiscriminate to many women; and, of course, straight men are socially far less likely to feel all that vulnerable or threatened by those who touch them than most other demographic groups.

It'll be interesting to see what turns up when they examine the responses of demographic groups with more inflections around tactile sensation. This is an interesting start.