Need an instant stress soother? Grab your hubby’s hand and you’ll experience immediate relief, according to research. Women volunteers were asked to recline in MRI scanners and given mild electric shocks to induce tension. When husbands held their wives’ hands during the ordeal, the women’s brain scans showed a significant decrease in stress levels, and the women themselves said that they felt calmer. “If you know the person touching you cares deeply about you, you feel sure that he will try hard to protect you from whatever seems threatening,” explains Dr. James A. Coan, University of Virginia, who conducted the study. Indeed, the women volunteers who had reported having the happiest marriages also experienced the greatest relief. —Carrington Cunningham