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Brauer J, Xiao Y, Poulain T, Friederici AD, Schirmer A. Frequency of Maternal Touch Predicts Resting Activity and Connectivity of the Developing Social Brain. Cereb Cortex 2016; 26:3544-52. [PMID: 27230216 PMCID: PMC4961023 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous behavioral research points to a positive relationship between maternal touch and early social development. Here, we explored the brain correlates of this relationship. The frequency of maternal touch was recorded for 43 five-year-old children during a 10 min standardized play session. Additionally, all children completed a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging session. Investigating the default mode network revealed a positive relation between the frequency of maternal touch and activity in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) extending into the temporo-parietal junction. Using this effect as a seed in a functional connectivity analysis identified a network including extended bilateral regions along the temporal lobe, bilateral frontal cortex, and left insula. Compared with children with low maternal touch, children with high maternal touch showed additional connectivity with the right dorso-medial prefrontal cortex. Together these results support the notion that childhood tactile experiences shape the developing "social brain" with a particular emphasis on a network involved in mentalizing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jens Brauer
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Yaqiong Xiao
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tanja Poulain
- LIFE Research Center, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Annett Schirmer
- Department of Psychology and LSI Neurobiology/Ageing Programme, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore Duke/NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore
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Ellingsen DM, Leknes S, Løseth G, Wessberg J, Olausson H. The Neurobiology Shaping Affective Touch: Expectation, Motivation, and Meaning in the Multisensory Context. Front Psychol 2016; 6:1986. [PMID: 26779092 PMCID: PMC4701942 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2015] [Accepted: 12/12/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Inter-individual touch can be a desirable reward that can both relieve negative affect and evoke strong feelings of pleasure. However, if other sensory cues indicate it is undesirable to interact with the toucher, the affective experience of the same touch may be flipped to disgust. While a broad literature has addressed, on one hand the neurophysiological basis of ascending touch pathways, and on the other hand the central neurochemistry involved in touch behaviors, investigations of how external context and internal state shapes the hedonic value of touch have only recently emerged. Here, we review the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms responsible for the integration of tactile “bottom–up” stimuli and “top–down” information into affective touch experiences. We highlight the reciprocal influences between gentle touch and contextual information, and consider how, and at which levels of neural processing, top-down influences may modulate ascending touch signals. Finally, we discuss the central neurochemistry, specifically the μ-opioids and oxytocin systems, involved in affective touch processing, and how the functions of these neurotransmitters largely depend on the context and motivational state of the individual.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan-Mikael Ellingsen
- MGH/HST Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of OsloOslo, Norway
| | - Siri Leknes
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo Oslo, Norway
| | - Guro Løseth
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo Oslo, Norway
| | - Johan Wessberg
- Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Håkan Olausson
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University Linköping, Sweden
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Abnormal Pressure Pain, Touch Sensitivity, Proprioception, and Manual Dexterity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Neural Plast 2016; 2016:1723401. [PMID: 26881091 PMCID: PMC4736331 DOI: 10.1155/2016/1723401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2015] [Revised: 10/05/2015] [Accepted: 10/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often display an abnormal reactivity to tactile stimuli, altered pain perception, and lower motor skills than healthy children. Nevertheless, these motor and sensory deficits have been mostly assessed by using clinical observation and self-report questionnaires. The present study aims to explore somatosensory and motor function in children with ASD by using standardized and objective testing procedures. Methods. Tactile and pressure pain thresholds in hands and lips, stereognosis, proprioception, and fine motor performance of the upper limbs were assessed in high-functioning children with ASD (n = 27) and compared with typically developing peers (n = 30). Results. Children with ASD showed increased pain sensitivity, increased touch sensitivity in C-tactile afferents innervated areas, and diminished fine motor performance and proprioception compared to healthy children. No group differences were observed for stereognosis. Conclusion. Increased pain sensitivity and increased touch sensitivity in areas classically related to affective touch (C-tactile afferents innervated areas) may explain typical avoiding behaviors associated with hypersensitivity. Both sensory and motor impairments should be assessed and treated in children with ASD.
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Schaub C, von Gunten A, Morin D. Examen de la portée des connaissances sur les concepts du toucher et du massage et de leurs effets sur l’agitation et le stress des personnes âgées hospitalisées atteintes de démence. Rech Soins Infirm 2016. [DOI: 10.3917/rsi.126.0007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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Galilee A, McCleery JP. Neural mechanisms of the observation of human and non-human object touch in children: An event-related potential study. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2015; 34:86-100. [PMID: 26659431 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2015] [Revised: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Previous behavioural research on the development of self-other tactile processing and perception suggests that this system may develop in a somewhat protracted manner relative to other aspects of social development. Neuroimaging research has shown that somatosensory mechanisms are activated when adults observe another person or object being touched. In this study, we measured event-related potentials from 4- to 5-year-old children to investigate the development of the neural correlates of the observation of human and object touch. Participants were presented with video clips of an arm or a cylindrical object being touched. Touch versus non-touch effects were observed in the amplitudes of the LSW component (600-700 ms) measured from electrodes over somatosensory region. Additionally, human versus non-human stimulus effects were reflected in the amplitudes of the parietal-central N100 component, as well as in the latencies of the N170 component recorded from parietal-occipital electrodes in children, as in adults in a previous study using this same paradigm. These findings provide evidence that relatively mature tactile mirroring mechanisms are activated during the observation of touch in children, and further suggest the possibility that these mechanisms are not particularly slow in their development relative to other aspects of social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joseph P McCleery
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.,Center for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Venkataraman A, Duncan JS, Yang DYJ, Pelphrey KA. An unbiased Bayesian approach to functional connectomics implicates social-communication networks in autism. Neuroimage Clin 2015; 8:356-66. [PMID: 26106561 PMCID: PMC4474177 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2015.04.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2014] [Revised: 03/20/2015] [Accepted: 04/26/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) studies reveal a complex pattern of hyper- and hypo-connectivity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Whereas rsfMRI findings tend to implicate the default mode network and subcortical areas in ASD, task fMRI and behavioral experiments point to social dysfunction as a unifying impairment of the disorder. Here, we leverage a novel Bayesian framework for whole-brain functional connectomics that aggregates population differences in connectivity to localize a subset of foci that are most affected by ASD. Our approach is entirely data-driven and does not impose spatial constraints on the region foci or dictate the trajectory of altered functional pathways. We apply our method to data from the openly shared Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) and pinpoint two intrinsic functional networks that distinguish ASD patients from typically developing controls. One network involves foci in the right temporal pole, left posterior cingulate cortex, left supramarginal gyrus, and left middle temporal gyrus. Automated decoding of this network by the Neurosynth meta-analytic database suggests high-level concepts of "language" and "comprehension" as the likely functional correlates. The second network consists of the left banks of the superior temporal sulcus, right posterior superior temporal sulcus extending into temporo-parietal junction, and right middle temporal gyrus. Associated functionality of these regions includes "social" and "person". The abnormal pathways emanating from the above foci indicate that ASD patients simultaneously exhibit reduced long-range or inter-hemispheric connectivity and increased short-range or intra-hemispheric connectivity. Our findings reveal new insights into ASD and highlight possible neural mechanisms of the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Archana Venkataraman
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - James S. Duncan
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Daniel Y.-J. Yang
- Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Kevin A. Pelphrey
- Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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Yang DYJ, Rosenblau G, Keifer C, Pelphrey KA. An integrative neural model of social perception, action observation, and theory of mind. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 51:263-75. [PMID: 25660957 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 166] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2014] [Revised: 01/13/2015] [Accepted: 01/23/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
In the field of social neuroscience, major branches of research have been instrumental in describing independent components of typical and aberrant social information processing, but the field as a whole lacks a comprehensive model that integrates different branches. We review existing research related to the neural basis of three key neural systems underlying social information processing: social perception, action observation, and theory of mind. We propose an integrative model that unites these three processes and highlights the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), which plays a central role in all three systems. Furthermore, we integrate these neural systems with the dual system account of implicit and explicit social information processing. Large-scale meta-analyses based on Neurosynth confirmed that the pSTS is at the intersection of the three neural systems. Resting-state functional connectivity analysis with 1000 subjects confirmed that the pSTS is connected to all other regions in these systems. The findings presented in this review are specifically relevant for psychiatric research especially disorders characterized by social deficits such as autism spectrum disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Y-J Yang
- Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
| | - Gabriela Rosenblau
- Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Cara Keifer
- Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Kevin A Pelphrey
- Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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