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Håkan Olausson

Professor

Research

The Morrison Lab: The Embodied Brain Lab.

The Olausson Lab

Human touch is a powerful way of evoking emotions. What is the functional significance of the system for ultrafast nociceptors that we recently discovered? How does the nervous system distinguish social and self-touch? Our lab is looking for answers.

See the video about our research that can lead to new treatments for chronic pain

To map the pathways of pain and help cure everything from chronic pain to headaches, Håkan Olausson's team at Linköping University measures various pain impulses. Håkan and his research group have discovered that pain signals travel much faster than previously thought and that pain fibers are present throughout the entire body.

Håkan Olausson is interviewed during a study.
See the video on Youtube.

News

Male and female researcher in a lab.

Pain relief through artificial touch in new research project

Can a garment made from smart textiles relieve long-term pain? This is what researchers in neuroscience, materials science, pain research, textile science and biomechanics are seeking to find out in a new interdisciplinary research project.

How the nervous system distinguishes social touch

Two types of neurons in the skin may be particularly important for how the brain interprets social contact between people. Knowledge of how the nervous system processes social touch is important in order to develop ways to restore sensation.
A researcher is working together with a test subject.

Our sense of touch consists of 16 unique types of nerve cells

No less than 16 different types of nerve cells have been identified by scientists in a new study on the human sense of touch. Comparisons between humans, mice and macaques show both similarities and significant differences.

Publications

Latest publications generated through LiU DiVA

2026

Johan Nikesjö, Saad Nagi, Ewa Jarocka, Kevin K. W. Ng, Maja Fältskytt, Andrew Marshall, Sarah Mcintyre, Gregory J. Gerling, Håkan Olausson (2026) Marked C-tactile afferent suppression by a plastic film does not proportionately diminish pleasantness of gentle brushing Journal of Physiology (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1113/JP290237
Rebecca Böhme, Reinoud Kaldewaij, Morgan Frost Karlsson, Andrew Wold, Adam Enmalm, Isabel Khoure, Jonna Tell, Jessica Käll, Mimmi Salerud, Elin Rimhagen, Charlotte Jackleus, Sara Barsjö, Magnus Thordstein, Per Gustafsson, Håkan Olausson, Maria Zetterqvist (2026) Theta burst stimulation of extrastriate body area for body perception in anorexia nervosa: a randomized controlled trial Translational Psychiatry, Vol. 16, Article 324 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-04235-8
Chwen-Yu Chen, Oumie Thorell, Felipe Meira de Faria, Aikeremu Ahemaiti, Olivia Le Moëne, Lech Kaczmarczyk, Katharina Henriksson, Jonathan Cole, David A. Mahns, Håkan Olausson, Walker Jackson, Saad Nagi, Malin C. Lagerstrom, Marcin Szczot, Max Larsson (2026) Central role for fast nociceptors in mechanical nocifensive behavior and sensitization Nature Communications, Vol. 17, Article 7271 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75948-z

Related Research

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Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine at LiU

WCMM at LiU focuses on the medicine-technology interface, and build upon our existing strengths in research within medical technology, materials science and bioengineering.
Neurobiology

Center for Systems Neurobiology

Center for Systems Neurobiology is a strategic effort from Linköping University (LiU) and Region Östergötland aimed at strengthening research within the medical field.

Organisation

A researcher is looking at encased samples in a lab.

Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience - CSAN

Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience (CSAN) integrates knowledge and methodology from different areas of basic and clinical neuroscience.

Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV)

What characterizes the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV) is the wide breadth of research and education. BKV is one of the largest departments at LiU with affiliation mainly to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.