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Mr Cao, a psychology major whose research involves neuroscience, has spent the past school year applying for PhD programs in the US.

Many psychotherapy models rely on the sense of self to function, said Mark Leary, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Duke University.

Andrews was a coauthor of the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, a declaration signed last April by a long list of animal consciousness, philosophy, neuroscience and cognitive science luminaries at New York University.

However, Sophie Scott, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London, argues that while touch has demonstrable benefits, the relationship between people involved is important.

Scientists are still discovering new parts of the brain, and what happens in the developing mind has historically been hard to pin down in neuroscience research.