Sarah McIntyre

Sarah McIntyre is an Assistant Professor at Linköping University's Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. She leads the McIntyre Lab and is part of the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience (CSAN). Her research focuses on understanding how the nervous system processes touch sensations to fulfill physiological, emotional, and social functions, including studies on social touch communication, pain mechanisms, and alcohol reward systems.

Key research interests include tactile perception, neural correlates of decision-making related to substance use, and the biomechanics of human interaction. She collaborates across disciplines, such as a project developing smart textiles for chronic pain relief. Recent work has explored neuronal encoding in mechanoreceptors, somatosensory cortical processing, and the role of Nav1.7 ion channels in pain pathways.

Publications span neuroscience, psychopharmacology, and biomedical engineering, with emphasis on social touch nuances, sensory discrimination deficits post-stroke, and pandemic healthcare outcomes. McIntyre’s lab integrates experimental psychology, neuroimaging, and biomechanical analysis to decode tactile communication’s emotional and physiological underpinnings.