Scratching an itch can bring a contradictory wave of pleasure and misery. A mouse study on scratching, reported in the Jan. 31 Science, fleshes out this head-scratching paradox and could point out ...

But there’s more to scratching than gating in the spinal cord. Deep brain structures stimulated by touch send signals back ...

Watching another person scratch an itch can cause you to do the same, and scientists have figured out the basis of this peculiar "itch contagion." It's all in your brain. Merely seeing someone else ...

Research suggests that the nerve injury itself is to blame. Itch-sensing nerves, much like pain-sensing ones, can go haywire and begin sending excessive or inappropriate signals. This may happen when ...

We've all had bug bites, or dry scalp, or a sunburn that causes itch. But what if you felt itchy all the time — and there was no relief? Journalist Annie Lowrey suffers from primary biliary ...