The Fabric of the Mind

Cecelia Ky-Lan Do
May 5
13 min read

by Tressel Holton

art by Noelle Biehle

Biohacking, the process of technologically improving your lifestyle based on scientific evidence, has become more normalized than ever before [1]. In a world where social media bombards us with fitness tips and diet plans, and Times Square advertisements promise to sharpen your senses or hone your memory, our culture is one of unprecedented optimization.

The Nike MIND is but the latest product to join the trend. The MIND is a shoe designed to enhance cognitive performance and stimulate the somatosensory cortex, the strip of brain tissue that processes tactile bodily sensations [2,3]. Featuring 22 strategically-placed foam nodes on its insole, this sportswear sensation works by activating the many sensory receptors across the wearer’s sole. In turn, this spike in sensory processing boosts overall cognitive awareness by increasing the user’s attention to their environment in a phenomenon called stochastic resonance [4]. The MIND drives members of the scientific community to ponder the relationship between the mind, the brain, and what we wear: To what extent does clothing have an impact on neural activity? Or, does the psychological meaning of clothing carry more weight than its somatosensory aspect?

This case mimics the “analogy of the stone soup”: A group of friends are seated around a campfire, when a boy proudly declares that he can make soup from stones [5]. His incredulous companions challenge him to back up this claim, so he fills a pot with water and some stones. While stirring the pot, the boy remarks that parsley would be a wonderful addition to the mixture, and one of the companions tosses some parsley into the water. A moment passes, and the boy comments once again, this time opining how wonderful it would be to add a potato to the soup. Another companion produces a potato, and the cycle continues for carrots, onions, and a slew of additional ingredients. Eventually, a delicious soup has been produced—prompting us to ask whether the stones were the active ingredient or whether they were simply there [5].

Consider how the stone soup may have been a product of the stones themselves, or a product of entirely separate factors that merely happened to be in proximity to the stones. Neuroscientists must ask the same questions about the role of clothing on the mind and the brain: Are our nervous systems and bodily functions really affected by our wardrobes, or is this effect “all in our heads”? The integration of neuroscience research into clothing is nothing new, so let’s put on our thinking caps and follow this thread as far back as we can…

Tactile Tactics: The Neuroscience of Sensation & Perception We can trace the origin of “clothing psychology,” the study of how our attire shapes thoughts and behavior, back to the early 1970s. Harry Harlow, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, set a precedent for understanding the impact of tactile stimuli on the mind through his landmark research with rhesus monkeys [6]. Harlow’s interest was piqued when he noticed intellectual deficits among a cohort of nursery-born infant monkeys who lacked the social skills present in infants raised by their mothers [6]. What, Harlow wondered, could be the trigger for the formation of these skills?

Harlow’s team designed an ingenious experiment to answer this question, developing two artificial “mothers” for the infant monkeys to interact with [6]. One mother was formed entirely of exposed metal wire, while the other was draped in soft fabric. Harlow observed that his primate subjects always preferred the “cloth mother” to the “wire mother,” even when the wire mother provided additional benefits such as food or intellectual stimulation [7]. The researchers concluded that the physical comfort of soft “skin” or “fur” was essential to calming the young monkeys and rearing their socio-cognitive development. They theorized that the comfort of wearing soft clothing could evoke a similar sense of familial warmth.

This theory of “comfort clothing” may play a significant role in the way our nervous system self-regulates, and companies are taking advantage of it. Comfrt, a hoodie company advertising benefits for the wearer’s emotional well-being, has taken social media by storm since its emergence in 2022. Brand ambassadors across TikTok and Instagram proudly tout the virtues of Comfrt’s Signature Hoodie, an oversized monochrome sweatshirt with “weighted properties.” In fact, Comfrt founder Hudson Leogrande designed the hoodie with his own mental health challenges in mind—according to the Comfrt website, users report reduced anxiety, stress, and depression [8]. Perhaps wearers are simply experiencing a placebo effect, an illusory psychological response occurring only because the subject expects it to occur [9]. However, Harlow’s rhesus monkey research establishes the innate desire to seek out “comforting” soft surfaces. Where, then, does our fascination with comfort clothing originate from?

As it turns out, physical pressure from clothing can produce a significant calming effect on our central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord [10]. One 2019 study investigated this phenomenon in women wearing girdles—tight undergarments used to expedite recovery from surgical procedures [11]. The researchers employed an electroencephalogram, a device that measures activity across specific brain regions, to determine that the use of a girdle produced a significant spike in alpha wave activity throughout the brain [12]. Alpha waves are frequently associated with high-performing musicians and athletes during a period of neural tranquility known as a “flow state,” in which the brain increases attention and expends less energy [13]. For example, imagine cracking open a favorite book and losing awareness of time as your attention is absorbed into the unfolding storyline. Additionally, alpha wave activity was particularly concentrated in the parietal lobe of the cerebral cortex—the brain domain for higher-level consciousness and sensorimotor activity [14]. Given that the parietal lobe is closely tied to spatial awareness and sensorimotor function, it may be surprising that seemingly tight or restrictive girdles accompany a flow state in the wearer [15]. However, this response indicates the girdle’s true neuropsychological effect on the wearer: it may represent more complex emotions ranging from security to relaxation.

Neuroscientists and psychologists agree that our response to comforting tactile stimuli is likely a product of both the brain and the mind, most probably through the nuanced processes of sensation and perception. In 2021, a coalition of European philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists theorized that we subconsciously perceive our attire as a “Second Skin”—a sort of psychological armor against the insecurities that plague us throughout daily life [16]. This Second Skin doesn’t only refer to the comfort of wearing a snug knit cap in wintertime; rather, it manifests itself through any number of possible wardrobe combinations. A Wall Street power broker, for example, may don a bright crimson “power tie” to project self-confidence, while a tech billionaire may opt for a simple T-shirt with jeans to assert individuality. The authors also suggest that the Second Skin “insulates” our brain function by reducing the volume of incoming stimuli, lessening the cognitive load placed on our perceptive neural pathways [16]. This allows for more efficient neural processing, which is the systematic analysis of information that inspires comparison between brains and sophisticated supercomputers [17].

To better understand how the Second Skin produces this phenomenon of “cognitive insulation”, imagine jumping into a pair of cozy slippers to avoid direct contact with a frigid bathroom floor. The slippers function as an insulating barrier between your feet and the floor, preserving your body heat and maintaining overall body temperature. In a similar way, our thoughts can easily become distracted and overstimulated without a mental “insulator”. The Second Skin answers this need by comforting and relaxing the mind, in turn enabling more orderly thought processes. Essentially, the clothing we intentionally select may reduce potential stress and augment cognitive capabilities.

The Aesthetic Element: Are Appearances Deceiving?

Reevaluating the Second Skin hypothesis, one can see that the benefits of wearing certain pieces of clothing are not only tactile but intrinsically tied to aesthetic principles. Before delving into the power of aesthetics on the brain, however, an understanding of the neurobiology of vision is essential: Imagine a stunning wedding dress, dripping in pale opalescence. Light enters the brain through the retina and is converted into electrochemical signals via a layer of cells called photoreceptors, which then transmit information along the optic nerve until it eventually reaches the primary visual cortex, V1, located in the occipital lobe at the rear of the skull. After taking 40-100 milliseconds to analyze this image, your frontal lobe concludes that there is a very real wedding dress in front of you—or at the very least, the image of such a dress [18].

Yet our brains do not merely record our environments—they facilitate a dynamic cognitive process that allows us to process and interact with our surroundings. One popular theory supporting this relationship is the principle of enclothed cognition, which suggests that our clothing choices influence the neuropsychological processes that occur in our own minds and in the minds of others [19].

Consider the classic physician’s garb, the white coat. A 2025 study examined the effects of medical white coats on both doctors and patients using a psychological survey [20]. In accordance with the enclothed cognition principle, the researchers found that physicians who associated benevolence with their white coats were more likely to instill a sense of benevolence in their patients. In turn, these same patients were more likely to perceive their patient-provider relationship as empathetic and sincere. Intriguingly enough, although various factors such as the title “doctor” shape patient perceptions, the white coat only conveyed a sense of empathy when the physician wearing it placed value on it [20].

Most studies involving this so-called “white coat effect” model principles of psychological research, but how does the brain actually process incoming visual information? Thus far, we have discussed the comforting effects of clothing on the brain. What happens, however, when we perceive a person’s outfit as hostile? It is worth noting that perceived hostility varies depending on the observer: While a punk rock fan might welcome the sight of someone wearing spikes and chains, the average viewer might be startled by the use of such items as accessories [21].

The principle that simply seeing clothing can evoke a positive or negative emotional reaction is woven throughout everyday life, and nowhere is it more prevalent than in the fashion industry. Big brands rely on visual merchandising to ensnare the consumer’s attention and persuade them to buy a product. In 2020, fashion design researchers separated visual clothing advertisements into three categories: fact-based (tied to realistic events), corrected-processing (connected to a celebrity, fad, or famous situation), and creative (rooted in an imaginative, original story) [22]. They found that participants exhibited the strongest activity in their orbitofrontal cortex, a key brain area for critical decision making, in response to creative visual merchandising. In turn, these high-activation participants were more likely to purchase the advertised product [22]. This may be the principle behind Comfrt’s use of powerful customer testimonials to convince us that their hoodies reduce anxiety. In other words, our desire and appreciation for a piece of clothing are magnified by our perception of its associated narrative.

“Lesion-Wear”: Maximizing Nervous Health With Clothing

Now that we have established the peculiar interactions between the brain, the mind, and our clothing, how can we optimize our nervous systems with what we wear? Before navigating the role of clothing in controlling and mitigating neurological disorders, an understanding of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is essential. The PNS connects the body’s various organs and muscle structures to the CNS via a sprawling network of motor and sensory neurons [23]. PNS disorders of sensory neurons typically involve some sort of abnormal pain or lack of feeling, while disorders of motor neurons can affect a patient’s muscle control and movement capabilities.

Our skin acts as a powerful early-warning system for imminent danger, communicating to the PNS via three types of receptors: thermoreceptors (temperature-sensitive), mechanoreceptors (pressure-sensitive), and nociceptors (pain-sensitive) [24]. Let’s focus on the mechanoreceptor to understand how the tightness or looseness of a piece of clothing affects our bodily function. Recall the girdle study mentioned earlier, which proved that some tight clothing produces a deeply comforting sensation not unlike a hug from a loved one [11]. Unfortunately, not all pressure responses are created equal. In fact, depending on the bodily location of the pressure sensation, a person may experience extreme discomfort, which can spell disaster for uncomfortable clothing [24].

By testing participants’ exposure to boneless corsets, a 2023 study found that we actually have a minimum “pressure threshold” of 1 kiloPascal, at which sensation from clothing becomes unbearable [25]. Researchers methodically increased the tightness of the corset on each subject and observed a corresponding increase in negative activation of the amygdala, which is commonly referred to as the emotional center of the brain [26]. “Negative activation” refers to increased activity in amygdalar areas of stress, anxiety, and other unpleasant emotions—meaning that overly tight corsets directly increased participant stress and anxiety. [25]. Although this upregulated activity also improves our attention by focusing awareness on the physical source of discomfort, the risk of unnecessary stress means that we must take care to avoid wearing uncomfortable clothing and consequently reduce risks to our health.

Conversely, making smart clothing choices may actively improve health, particularly in the realm of footwear. Every casual gym-goer and professional athlete knows the importance of protecting their feet against the relentless wear-and-tear of intense exercise. However, patients with gait disorders rarely have the luxury of choice in this matter. Gait disorders, which reduce one’s neuromuscular control over their legs, severely limit a person’s movement capabilities [27]. However, the last few years have seen a revolution in gait disorder treatment as patients begin to make deliberate choices about their own shoes: When a person living with Parkinson’s disease walks barefoot across the room, they typically exhibit a signature “shuffling step” instead of a normal gait [28]. Peculiarly, when that same person dons habitual footwear (footwear that they regularly wear in day-to-day life), their gait patterns improve, regardless of the type of footwear chosen. Even more intriguing is the fact that gait further improved for patients who habitually chose footwear with strong arch support, low heels, and sufficient cushioning [29]. Therefore, there is a vibrant connection between the nervous system and smart footwear.

Conclusion:

Years of popular culture have ingrained in us the dogma of self-sufficiency: “I’ve got nothing but the clothes on my back.” Even when all other possessions are lost, clothing is the last commodity to be surrendered, no matter how unfashionable or unflattering: holding onto clothing allows us to retain shreds of dignity or insulate against physical and psychological harm.

While we may not yet have “smart armor” like Iron Man or invisibility cloaks like the protagonists of the Harry Potter series, our clothing choices still play a vital role in the progress of daily life. What we wear shapes our own nervous systems by influencing attention to the environment and reducing circumstantial stress. Our wardrobe choices also exhibit a dynamic influence on the mind through the principle of enclothed cognition and the Second Skin theory, armoring the self against a tidal onslaught of insecurities. We can even exploit clothing to function as a mobile medical technology, combatting nervous disorders like Parkinson’s and expanding innate awareness. The overall message is clear: what we wear matters, even if it’s technically out of style.

REFERENCES:

The Fabric of the Mind

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