Scientists unlock secret to the perfect cuddle

In this era of social distancing and depressing news, we could all do with a good hug. Now scientists have analysed what makes the perfect cuddle -- just don't squeeze too tight. A team from Japan's Toho University measured the calming effect on infants of hugs of different pressures, and when given by strangers compared to from parents. According to the results, published in the journal Cell, babies were soothed more by a medium-pressure hug than just being held but the calming effect decreased during a "tight" hug. The researchers kept the length of the hug to 20 seconds. Unsurprisingly perhaps, for infants older than 125 days, the calming effect was greater when receiving a hug from a parent than from a female stranger. So, the perfect hug is considered to be medium pressure from a parent, the scientists believe.