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Shekhar S, Hirvi P, Maria A, Kotilahti K, Tuulari JJ, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Nissilä I. Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms and child brain responses to affective touch at two years of age. J Affect Disord 2024; 356:177-189. [PMID: 38508459 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Touch is an essential form of mother-child interaction, instigating better social bonding and emotional stability. METHODS We used diffuse optical tomography to explore the relationship between total haemoglobin (HbT) responses to affective touch in the child's brain at two years of age and maternal self-reported prenatal depressive symptoms (EPDS). Affective touch was implemented via slow brushing of the child's right forearm at 3 cm/s and non-affective touch via fast brushing at 30 cm/s and HbT responses were recorded on the left hemisphere. RESULTS We discovered a cluster in the postcentral gyrus exhibiting a negative correlation (Pearson's r = -0.84, p = 0.015 corrected for multiple comparisons) between child HbT response to affective touch and EPDS at gestational week 34. Based on region of interest (ROI) analysis, we found negative correlations between child responses to affective touch and maternal prenatal EPDS at gestational week 14 in the precentral gyrus, Rolandic operculum and secondary somatosensory cortex. The responses to non-affective touch did not correlate with EPDS in these regions. LIMITATIONS The number of mother-child dyads was 16. However, by utilising high-density optode arrangements, individualised anatomical models, and video and accelerometry to monitor movement, we were able to minimize methodological sources of variability in the data. CONCLUSIONS The results show that maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy may be associated with reduced child responses to affective touch in the temporoparietal cortex. Responses to affective touch may be considered as potential biomarkers for psychosocial development in children. Early identification of and intervention in maternal depression may be important already during early pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shashank Shekhar
- Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC, USA; University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland
| | - Pauliina Hirvi
- Aalto University, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Finland; Aalto University, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis, Finland
| | - Ambika Maria
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland
| | - Kalle Kotilahti
- Aalto University, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Finland
| | - Jetro J Tuulari
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland; Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, TCSMT, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland
| | - Ilkka Nissilä
- Aalto University, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Finland.
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Kaldewaij R, Salamone PC, Enmalm A, Östman L, Pietrzak M, Karlsson H, Löfberg A, Gauffin E, Samuelsson M, Gustavson S, Capusan AJ, Olausson H, Heilig M, Boehme R. Ketamine reduces the neural distinction between self- and other-produced affective touch: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024:10.1038/s41386-024-01906-2. [PMID: 38918578 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01906-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
A coherent sense of self is crucial for social functioning and mental health. The N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist ketamine induces short-term dissociative experiences and has therefore been used to model an altered state of self-perception. This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study investigated the mechanisms for ketamine's effects on the bodily sense of self in the context of affective touch. Thirty healthy participants (15 females/15 males, age 19-39) received intravenous ketamine or placebo while performing self-touch and receiving touch by someone else during functional MRI - a previously established neural measure of tactile self-other-differentiation. Afterwards, tactile detection thresholds during self- and other-touch were assessed, as well as dissociative states, interoceptive awareness, and social touch attitudes. Compared to placebo, ketamine administration elicited dissociation and reduced neural activity associated with self-other-differentiation in the right temporoparietal cortex, which was most pronounced during other-touch. This reduction correlated with ketamine-induced reductions in interoceptive awareness. The temporoparietal cortex showed higher connectivity to somatosensory cortex and insula during other- compared to self-touch. This difference was augmented by ketamine, and correlated with dissociation strength for somatosensory cortex. These results demonstrate that disrupting the self-experience through ketamine administration affects neural activity associated with self-other-differentiation in a region involved in touch perception and social cognition, especially with regard to social touch by someone else. This process may be driven by ketamine-induced effects on top-down signaling, rendering the processing of predictable self-generated and unpredictable other-generated touch more similar. These findings provide further evidence for the intricate relationship of the bodily self with the tactile sense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reinoud Kaldewaij
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
- Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
| | - Paula C Salamone
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Adam Enmalm
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Lars Östman
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Michal Pietrzak
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Hanna Karlsson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Andreas Löfberg
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Emelie Gauffin
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Martin Samuelsson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Sarah Gustavson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Andrea J Capusan
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Håkan Olausson
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Markus Heilig
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Rebecca Boehme
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
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3
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Cusack R, Ranzato M, Charvet CJ. Helpless infants are learning a foundation model. Trends Cogn Sci 2024:S1364-6613(24)00114-1. [PMID: 38839537 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
Humans have a protracted postnatal helplessness period, typically attributed to human-specific maternal constraints causing an early birth when the brain is highly immature. By aligning neurodevelopmental events across species, however, it has been found that humans are not born with especially immature brains compared with animal species with a shorter helpless period. Consistent with this, the rapidly growing field of infant neuroimaging has found that brain connectivity and functional activation at birth share many similarities with the mature brain. Inspired by machine learning, where deep neural networks also benefit from a 'helpless period' of pre-training, we propose that human infants are learning a foundation model: a set of fundamental representations that underpin later cognition with high performance and rapid generalisation.
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Grumi S, Capelli E, Morelli F, Vercellino L, Mascherpa E, Ghiberti C, Carraro L, Signorini S, Provenzi L. Gaze Orienting in the Social World: An Exploration of the Role Played by Caregiving Vocal and Tactile Behaviors in Infants with Visual Impairment and in Sighted Controls. Brain Sci 2024; 14:474. [PMID: 38790453 PMCID: PMC11120189 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14050474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Infant attention is a cognitive function that underlines sensory-motor integration processes at the interface between the baby and the surrounding physical and socio-relational environment, mainly with the caregivers. The investigation of the role of non-visual inputs (i.e., vocal and tactile) provided by the caregivers in shaping infants' attention in the context of visual impairment is relevant from both a theoretical and clinical point of view. This study investigated the social attention (i.e., gaze orientation) skills in a group of visually impaired (VI) and age-matched sighted controls (SCs) between 9 and 12 months of age. Moreover, the role of VI severity and maternal vocalizations and touch in shaping the social attention were investigated. Overall, 45 infants and their mothers participated in a video-recorded 4 min interaction procedure, including a play and a still-face episode. The infants' gaze orientation (i.e., mother-directed, object-directed, or unfocused) and the types of maternal vocalizations and touch (i.e., socio-cognitive, affective) were micro-analytically coded. Maternal vocalizations and touch were found to influence gaze orientation differently in VI infants compared SCs. Moreover, the group comparisons during the play episode showed that controls were predominantly oriented to the mothers, while VI infants were less socially oriented. Visual impairment severity did not emerge as linked with social attention. These findings contribute to our understanding of socio-cognitive developmental trajectories in VI infants and highlight the need for tailored interventions to promote optimal outcomes for VI populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Grumi
- Developmental Psychobiology Lab, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (S.G.); (L.V.)
| | - Elena Capelli
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (E.C.); (C.G.); (L.C.)
| | - Federica Morelli
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (F.M.); (S.S.)
| | - Luisa Vercellino
- Developmental Psychobiology Lab, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (S.G.); (L.V.)
| | - Eleonora Mascherpa
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (F.M.); (S.S.)
| | - Chiara Ghiberti
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (E.C.); (C.G.); (L.C.)
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (F.M.); (S.S.)
| | - Laura Carraro
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (E.C.); (C.G.); (L.C.)
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (F.M.); (S.S.)
| | - Sabrina Signorini
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (F.M.); (S.S.)
| | - Livio Provenzi
- Developmental Psychobiology Lab, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (S.G.); (L.V.)
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (E.C.); (C.G.); (L.C.)
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5
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Düken ME, Yayan EH. A follow up study on the effects of massage on preterm infants: A randomized controlled research. Explore (NY) 2024; 20:392-400. [PMID: 37865528 DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2023.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Preterm infants who leave the intrauterine environment early are deprived of tactile stimuli. This affects the physical, emotional and social developments of infants and their physical growth parameters such as weight, height and head circumference negatively. AIM This research was conducted to determine the effects of massage on the development of preterm infants. MATERIAL-METHOD This research was conducted as randomized controlled research with two groups (massage-control). The infants in the intervention group received massage for 30 days. Height, weight and head circumference values of the infants were recorded on days 5, 10, 20 and 30. Amount of feeding was recorded before intervention, on day 15 after intervention and on day 30 after intervention. Discharge times of the infants were recorded according to groups. RESULTS A significant difference was found in height and weight of the preterm infants on days 20 and 30 when compared with the control group. Discharge time of the infants in the massage group was found to be 10 days shorter on average when compared with the control group. Significant difference was also found between day 15 and 30 in terms of amount of feeding. CONCLUSION Massage was found to have significant effects on physical growth parameters such as height, weight and head circumference. It was found that massage increased amount of feeding and weight intake in infants and decreased discharge time. In this case, hospital cost per infant may be reduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehmet Emin Düken
- Health Sciences of Faculty -Department of Child Health and Diseases Nursing, Harran University, Şanlıurfa 63000, Turkey.
| | - Emriye Hilal Yayan
- Faculty of Nursing - Department of Child Health and Diseases Nursing, Inönü University, Malatya 44280, Turkey
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Carnevali L, Della Longa L, Dragovic D, Farroni T. Touch and look: The role of affective touch in promoting infants' attention towards complex visual scenes. INFANCY 2024; 29:271-283. [PMID: 38180744 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
In a complex social environment, stimuli from different sensory modalities need to be integrated to decode communicative meanings. From very early in life, infants have to combine a multitude of sensory features with social and affective attributes. Of all senses, touch constitutes a privileged channel to carry affective-motivational meanings and foster social connection. In the present study, we investigate whether sharing sensory stimulation that varies for its affective value differentially affects infants' attention towards visual stimuli. 6 to 11-month-old infants (N = 42) were familiarized with two characters respectively matched with tactile (affective or non-affective) and auditory stimulation; then repeatedly exposed to scenes where the two characters moved towards target objects. Our results showed a main effect of stimulation (sound vs. touch) on looking times during familiarization, with longer looking times when sound is provided. During scenes presentation, a main effect of the type of touch (affective vs. non affective) emerged, with longer looking times in infants that previously experienced affective touch, suggesting that this sensory experience may critically engage the self and modulate infant attention. Overall, these findings suggest that while sound acts as attention getter, affective touch supports sustained attention towards complex visual scenes beyond the stimulation period itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Letizia Della Longa
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Danica Dragovic
- Pediatric Unit, San Polo Hospital, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano-Isontina (ASUGI), Monfalcone, Italy
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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7
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Zhou YT, An DD, Xu YX, Zhou Y, Li QQ, Dai HB, Zhang XN, Wang Y, Lou M, Chen Z, Hu WW. Activation of glutamatergic neurons in the somatosensory cortex promotes remyelination in ischemic vascular dementia. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 4:188-198. [PMID: 38933843 PMCID: PMC11197523 DOI: 10.1016/j.fmre.2022.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion can cause progressive demyelination as well as ischemic vascular dementia, however no effective treatments are available. Here, based on magnetic resonance imaging studies of patients with white matter damage, we found that this damage is associated with disorganized cortical structure. In a mouse model, optogenetic activation of glutamatergic neurons in the somatosensory cortex significantly promoted oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) proliferation, remyelination in the corpus callosum, and recovery of cognitive ability after cerebral hypoperfusion. The therapeutic effect of such stimulation was restricted to the upper layers of the cortex, but also spanned a wide time window after ischemia. Mechanistically, enhancement of glutamatergic neuron-OPC functional synaptic connections is required to achieve the protection effect of activating cortical glutamatergic neurons. Additionally, skin stroking, an easier method to translate into clinical practice, activated the somatosensory cortex, thereby promoting OPC proliferation, remyelination and cognitive recovery following cerebral hypoperfusion. In summary, we demonstrated that activating glutamatergic neurons in the somatosensory cortex promotes the proliferation of OPCs and remyelination to recover cognitive function after chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. It should be noted that this activation may provide new approaches for treating ischemic vascular dementia via the precise regulation of glutamatergic neuron-OPC circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Ting Zhou
- Department of Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy of the Second Affiliated Hospital, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Department of Pharmacy, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Da-Dao An
- Department of Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy of the Second Affiliated Hospital, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Key Laboratory of Neuropharmacology and Translational Medicine of Zhejiang Province, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China
| | - Yi-Xin Xu
- Department of Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy of the Second Affiliated Hospital, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Ying Zhou
- Department of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China
| | - Qing-Qing Li
- Department of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China
| | - Hai-Bin Dai
- Department of Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy of the Second Affiliated Hospital, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xiang-Nan Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy of the Second Affiliated Hospital, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yi Wang
- Key Laboratory of Neuropharmacology and Translational Medicine of Zhejiang Province, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China
| | - Min Lou
- Department of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China
| | - Zhong Chen
- Department of Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy of the Second Affiliated Hospital, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Key Laboratory of Neuropharmacology and Translational Medicine of Zhejiang Province, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China
| | - Wei-Wei Hu
- Department of Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy of the Second Affiliated Hospital, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
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Mariani Wigley ILC, Björnsdotter M, Scheinin NM, Merisaari H, Saunavaara J, Parkkola R, Bonichini S, Montirosso R, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Tuulari JJ. Infants' sex affects neural responses to affective touch in early infancy. Dev Psychobiol 2023; 65:e22419. [PMID: 37860896 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Social touch is closely related to the establishment and maintenance of social bonds in humans, and the sensory brain circuit for gentle brushing is already active soon after birth. Brain development is known to be sexually dimorphic, but the potential effect of sex on brain activation to gentle touch remains unknown. Here, we examined brain activation to gentle skin stroking, a tactile stimulation that resembles affective or social touch, in term-born neonates. Eighteen infants aged 11-36 days, recruited from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, were included in the study. During natural sleep, soft brush strokes were applied to the skin of the right leg during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 cm/s velocity. We examined potential differences in brain activation between males (n = 10) and females (n = 8) and found that females had larger blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses (brushing vs. rest) in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), right ventral striatum and bilateral inferior striatum, pons, and cerebellum compared to males. Moreover, the psychophysiological interactions (PPI) analysis, setting the left and right OFC as seed regions, revealed significant differences between males and females. Females exhibited stronger PPI connectivity between the left OFC and posterior cingulate or cuneus. Our work suggests that social touch neural responses are different in male and female neonates, which may have major ramifications for later brain, cognitive, and social development. Finally, many of the sexually dimorphic brain responses were subcortical, not captured by surface-based neuroimaging, indicating that fMRI will be a relevant technique for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Malin Björnsdotter
- Department of Affective Psychiatry, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Center for Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Noora M Scheinin
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Harri Merisaari
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Radiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jani Saunavaara
- Department of Radiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Riitta Parkkola
- Department of Radiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Sabrina Bonichini
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Rosario Montirosso
- 0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Italy
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jetro J Tuulari
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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9
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Kryklywy JH, Vyas P, Maclean KE, Todd RM. Characterizing affiliative touch in humans and its role in advancing haptic design. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2023; 1528:29-41. [PMID: 37596987 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/21/2023]
Abstract
An emerging view in cognitive neuroscience holds that the extraction of emotional relevance from sensory experience extends beyond the centralized appraisal of sensation in associative brain regions, including frontal and medial-temporal cortices. This view holds that sensory information can be emotionally valenced from the point of contact with the world. This view is supported by recent research characterizing the human affiliative touch system, which carries signals of soft, stroking touch to the central nervous system and is mediated by dedicated C-tactile afferent receptors. This basic scientific research on the human affiliative touch system is informed by, and informs, technology design for communicating and regulating emotion through touch. Here, we review recent research on the basic biology and cognitive neuroscience of affiliative touch, its regulatory effects across the lifespan, and the factors that modulate it. We further review recent work on the design of haptic technologies, devices that stimulate the affiliative touch system, such as wearable technologies that apply the sensation of soft stroking or other skin-to-skin contact, to promote physiological regulation. We then point to future directions in interdisciplinary research aimed at both furthering scientific understanding and application of haptic technology for health and wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- James H Kryklywy
- Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
| | - Preeti Vyas
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Karon E Maclean
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Rebecca M Todd
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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10
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Mayorova L, Portnova G, Skorokhodov I. Cortical Response Variation with Social and Non-Social Affective Touch Processing in the Glabrous and Hairy Skin of the Leg: A Pilot fMRI Study. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:7881. [PMID: 37765936 PMCID: PMC10538157 DOI: 10.3390/s23187881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 08/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Despite the crucial role of touch in social development and its importance for social interactions, there has been very little functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research on brain mechanisms underlying social touch processing. Moreover, there has been very little research on the perception of social touch in the lower extremities in humans, even though this information could expand our understanding of the mechanisms of the c-tactile system. Here, variations in the neural response to stimulation by social and non-social affective leg touch were investigated using fMRI. Participants were subjected to slow a (at 3-5 cm/s) stroking social touch (hand, skin-to-skin) and a non-social touch (peacock feather) to the hairy skin of the shin and to the glabrous skin of the foot sole. Stimulation of the glabrous skin of the foot sole, regardless of the type of stimulus, elicited a much more widespread cortical response, including structures such as the medial segment of precentral gyri, left precentral gyrus, bilateral putamen, anterior insula, left postcentral gyrus, right thalamus, and pallidum. Stimulation of the hairy skin of the shin elicited a relatively greater response in the left middle cingulate gyrus, left angular gyrus, left frontal eye field, bilateral anterior prefrontal cortex, and left frontal pole. Activation of brain structures, some of which belong to the "social brain"-the pre- and postcentral gyri bilaterally, superior and middle occipital gyri bilaterally, left middle and superior temporal gyri, right anterior cingulate gyrus and caudate, left middle and inferior frontal gyri, and left lateral ventricle area, was associated with the perception of non-social stimuli in the leg. The left medial segment of pre- and postcentral gyri, left postcentral gyrus and precuneus, bilateral parietal operculum, right planum temporale, left central operculum, and left thalamus proper showed greater activation for social tactile touch. There are regions in the cerebral cortex that responded specifically to hand and feather touch in the foot sole region. These areas included the posterior insula, precentral gyrus; putamen, pallidum and anterior insula; superior parietal cortex; transverse temporal gyrus and parietal operculum, supramarginal gyrus and planum temporale. Subjective assessment of stimulus ticklishness was related to activation of the left cuneal region. Our results make some contribution to understanding the physiology of the perception of social and non-social tactile stimuli and the CT system, including its evolution, and they have clinical impact in terms of environmental enrichment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larisa Mayorova
- Laboratory of Physiology of Sensory Systems, Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of Russian Academy of Science, 117485 Moscow, Russia
- Laboratory for the Study of Tactile Communication, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, 117485 Moscow, Russia
| | - Galina Portnova
- Laboratory for the Study of Tactile Communication, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, 117485 Moscow, Russia
- Laboratory of Human Higher Nervous Activity, Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of Russian Academy of Science, 117485 Moscow, Russia
| | - Ivan Skorokhodov
- Laboratory for the Study of Tactile Communication, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, 117485 Moscow, Russia
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11
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Della Longa L, Carnevali L, Farroni T. The role of affective touch in modulating emotion processing among preschool children. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 235:105726. [PMID: 37336064 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Recognizing emotional expressions is a prerequisite for understanding others' feelings and intentions, a key component of social interactions that develops throughout childhood. In multisensory social environments, touch may be crucial for emotion processing, linking external sensory information with internal affective states. The current study investigated whether affective touch facilitates recognition of emotional expressions throughout childhood. Preschool children (N = 121 3- to 6-year-olds) were presented with different tactile stimulations followed by an emotion-matching task. Results revealed that affective touch fosters the recognition of negative emotions and increases the speed of association of positive emotions, highlighting the centrality of tactile experiences for socioemotional understanding. The current research opens new perspectives on how to support emotional recognition with potential consequences for the development of social functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letizia Della Longa
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
| | - Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
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12
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McParlin Z, Cerritelli F, Manzotti A, Friston KJ, Esteves JE. Therapeutic touch and therapeutic alliance in pediatric care and neonatology: An active inference framework. Front Pediatr 2023; 11:961075. [PMID: 36923275 PMCID: PMC10009260 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2023.961075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Therapeutic affective touch has been recognized as essential for survival, nurturing supportive interpersonal interactions, accelerating recovery-including reducing hospitalisations, and promoting overall health and building robust therapeutic alliances. Through the lens of active inference, we present an integrative model, combining therapeutic touch and communication, to achieve biobehavioural synchrony. This model speaks to how the brain develops a generative model required for recovery, developing successful therapeutic alliances, and regulating allostasis within paediatric manual therapy. We apply active inference to explain the neurophysiological and behavioural mechanisms that underwrite the development and maintenance of synchronous relationships through touch. This paper foregrounds the crucial role of therapeutic touch in developing a solid therapeutic alliance, the clinical effectiveness of paediatric care, and triadic synchrony between health care practitioner, caregiver, and infant in a variety of clinical situations. We start by providing a brief overview of the significance and clinical role of touch in the development of social interactions in infants; facilitating a positive therapeutic alliance and restoring homeostasis through touch to allow a more efficient process of allostatic regulation. Moreover, we explain the role of CT tactile afferents in achieving positive clinical outcomes and updating prior beliefs. We then discuss how touch is implemented in treatment sessions to promote cooperative interactions in the clinic and facilitate theory of mind. This underwrites biobehavioural synchrony, epistemic trust, empathy, and the resolution of uncertainty. The ensuing framework is underpinned by a critical application of the active inference framework to the fields of pediatrics and neonatology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe McParlin
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Francesco Cerritelli
- Division of Neonatology, “V. Buzzi” Children's Hospital, ASST-FBF-Sacco, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Manzotti
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Division of Neonatology, “V. Buzzi” Children's Hospital, ASST-FBF-Sacco, Milan, Italy
- Research Department, SOMA, Istituto Osteopatia Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jorge E Esteves
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational, Malta, Finland
- Research Department, University College of Osteopathy, Research Department, London, United Kingdom
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13
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Nolvi S, Merz EC, Kataja EL, Parsons CE. Prenatal Stress and the Developing Brain: Postnatal Environments Promoting Resilience. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 93:942-952. [PMID: 36870895 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.11.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Heightened maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with atypical brain development and an elevated risk for psychopathology in offspring. Supportive environments during early postnatal life may promote brain development and reverse atypical developmental trajectories induced by prenatal stress. We reviewed studies focused on the role of key early environmental factors in moderating associations between prenatal stress exposure and infant brain and neurocognitive outcomes. Specifically, we focused on the associations between parental caregiving quality, environmental enrichment, social support, and socioeconomic status with infant brain and neurocognitive outcomes. We examined the evidence that these factors may moderate the effects of prenatal stress on the developing brain. Complementing findings from translational models, human research suggests that high-quality early postnatal environments are associated with indices of infant neurodevelopment that have also been associated with prenatal stress, such as hippocampal volume and frontolimbic connectivity. Human studies also suggest that maternal sensitivity and higher socioeconomic status may attenuate the effects of prenatal stress on established neurocognitive and neuroendocrine mediators of risk for psychopathology, such as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning. Biological pathways that may underlie the effects of positive early environments on the infant brain, including the epigenome, oxytocin, and inflammation, are also discussed. Future research in humans should examine resilience-promoting processes in relation to infant brain development using large sample sizes and longitudinal designs. The findings from this review could be incorporated into clinical models of risk and resilience during the perinatal period and used to design more effective early programs that reduce risk for psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saara Nolvi
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Clinical Medicine, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Center for Population Health Research, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
| | - Emily C Merz
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Eeva-Leena Kataja
- Department of Clinical Medicine, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Center for Population Health Research, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Christine E Parsons
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Interacting Minds Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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14
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Gentle as a mother's touch: C-tactile touch promotes autonomic regulation in preterm infants. Physiol Behav 2022; 257:113991. [PMID: 36242858 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Revised: 09/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Preterm infants are challenged to adapt to an extrauterine milieu, while their interoceptive system and autonomic regulation capacity is still immature. Caressing parental touch is known to foster parasympathetic regulation in infants by stimulating C-tactile (CT) afferents and in preterm infants, slow stroking stimulation also leads to a heart rate decrease. The particular impact of maternal stroking has not yet been investigated and factors influencing the maturation of the CT system in preterm infants remain unclear. We therefore analysed 53 standardized events in which preterm infants (24 to 36 weeks gestational age at birth) were stroked by their mothers. Video analysis revealed that mothers use CT optimal velocities to stroke their preterm child. Analysis of pulse oximetric data showed no effect of stroking on infantile blood oxygenation, but a significant decrease of the heart rate. Compared to term-born children, this decrease was delayed by about two minutes. Furthermore, our data suggested that more immature preterm infants benefited less from stroking than more mature ones. We conclude that maternal stroking touch targets CT afferents in preterm infants and that the preterm CT system is not yet mature.
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15
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Kearney BE, Lanius RA. The brain-body disconnect: A somatic sensory basis for trauma-related disorders. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1015749. [PMID: 36478879 PMCID: PMC9720153 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1015749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the manifestation of trauma in the body is a phenomenon well-endorsed by clinicians and traumatized individuals, the neurobiological underpinnings of this manifestation remain unclear. The notion of somatic sensory processing, which encompasses vestibular and somatosensory processing and relates to the sensory systems concerned with how the physical body exists in and relates to physical space, is introduced as a major contributor to overall regulatory, social-emotional, and self-referential functioning. From a phylogenetically and ontogenetically informed perspective, trauma-related symptomology is conceptualized to be grounded in brainstem-level somatic sensory processing dysfunction and its cascading influences on physiological arousal modulation, affect regulation, and higher-order capacities. Lastly, we introduce a novel hierarchical model bridging somatic sensory processes with limbic and neocortical mechanisms regulating an individual's emotional experience and sense of a relational, agentive self. This model provides a working framework for the neurobiologically informed assessment and treatment of trauma-related conditions from a somatic sensory processing perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Breanne E. Kearney
- Department of Neuroscience, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Ruth A. Lanius
- Department of Neuroscience, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
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16
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An integrative perspective on the role of touch in the development of intersubjectivity. Brain Cogn 2022; 163:105915. [PMID: 36162247 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2022.105915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Touch concerns a fundamental component of sociality. In this review, we examine the hypothesis that somatomotor development constitutes a crucial psychophysiological element in the ontogeny of intersubjectivity. An interdisciplinary perspective is provided on how the communication channel of touch contributes to the sense of self and extends to the social self. During gestation, the transformation of random movements into organized sequences of actions with sensory consequences parallels the development of the brain's functional architecture. Brain subsystems shaped by the coordinated activity of somatomotor circuits to support these first body-environment interactions are the first brain functional arrangements to develop. We propose that tactile self-referring behaviour during gestation constitutes a prototypic mode of interpersonal exchange that supports the subsequent development of intersubjective exchange. The reviewed research suggests that touch constitutes a pivotal bodily experience that in early stages builds and later filters self-other interactions. This view is corroborated by the fact that aberrant social-affective touch experiences appear fundamentally associated with attachment anomalies, interpersonal trauma, and personality disorders. Given the centrality of touch for the development of intersubjectivity and for psychopathological conditions in the social domain, dedicated research is urged to elucidate the role of touch in the evolution of subjective self-other coding.
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17
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Mariani Wigley ILC, Pastore M, Mascheroni E, Tremolada M, Bonichini S, Montirosso R. Tactile Biography Questionnaire: A contribution to its validation in an Italian sample. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274477. [PMID: 36107821 PMCID: PMC9477375 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
As the interest in the beneficial effects of positive touch experiences is rapidly growing, having reliable and valid tools to its assessment is essential. The Tactile Biography Questionnaire (TBQ) allows to quantify individual differences in affective touch experiences throughout life. The aim of this article is to present a contribution to its validation in the Italian population. Data analysis were run on a sample of 2040 Italian individuals (Females = 1342, 64%) participating in an on-line survey. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and invariance analyses for gender were applied. Concurrent validity was checked using two specific subscales of the Touch Avoidance Questionnaire (TAQ—i.e., Family and Stranger). The four-dimensional structure of the TBQ was confirmed in the overall sample and by gender. Also, the TBQ showed an excellent internal consistency and a good concurrent validity with TAQ. The present study suggests that the TBQ can be used to support healthcare professionals and researchers to assess experiences of affective touch in different settings.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Massimiliano Pastore
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Eleonora Mascheroni
- 0–3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Marta Tremolada
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Sabrina Bonichini
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Rosario Montirosso
- 0–3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
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18
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Cobo MM, Moultrie F, Hauck AGV, Crankshaw D, Monk V, Hartley C, Evans Fry R, Robinson S, van der Vaart M, Baxter L, Adams E, Poorun R, Bhatt A, Slater R. Multicentre, randomised controlled trial to investigate the effects of parental touch on relieving acute procedural pain in neonates (Petal). BMJ Open 2022; 12:e061841. [PMID: 36250332 PMCID: PMC9301810 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Newborn infants routinely undergo minor painful procedures as part of postnatal care, with infants born sick or premature requiring a greater number of procedures. As pain in early life can have long-term neurodevelopmental consequences and lead to parental anxiety and future avoidance of interventions, effective pain management is essential. Non-pharmacological comfort measures such as breastfeeding, swaddling and sweet solutions are inconsistently implemented and are not always practical or effective in reducing the transmission of noxious input to the brain. Stroking of the skin can activate C-tactile fibres and reduce pain, and therefore could provide a simple and safe parent-led intervention for the management of pain. The trial aim is to determine whether parental touch prior to a painful clinical procedure provides effective pain relief in neonates. METHODS AND ANALYSIS This is a multicentre randomised controlled trial. A total of 112 neonates born at 35 weeks' gestation or more requiring a blood test in the first week of life will be recruited and randomised to receive parental stroking either preprocedure or postprocedure. We will record brain activity (EEG), cardiac and respiratory dynamics, oxygen saturation and facial expression to provide proxy pain outcome measures. The primary outcome will be the reduction of noxious-evoked brain activity in response to a heel lance. Secondary outcomes will be a reduction in clinical pain scores (Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised), postprocedural tachycardia and parental anxiety. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The study has been approved by the London-South East Research Ethics Committee (ref: 21/LO/0523). The results will be widely disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, international conferences and via our partner neonatal charities Bliss and Supporting the Sick Newborn And their Parents (SSNAP). If the parental tactile intervention is effective, recommendations will be submitted via the National Health Service clinical guideline adoption process. STUDY STATUS Commenced September 2021. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT04901611; 14 135 962.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria M Cobo
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Colegio de Ciencias Biologicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Fiona Moultrie
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | | | - Vaneesha Monk
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Ria Evans Fry
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | | | - Luke Baxter
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Eleri Adams
- Newborn Care Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Ravi Poorun
- Children's Services, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Exeter, UK
- College of Medicine & Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Aomesh Bhatt
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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19
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Jackson EE, McGlone FP, Haggarty CJ. The social brain has a nerve: insights from attachment and autistic phenotypes. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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20
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Abstract
Human infancy and early childhood is both a time of heightened brain plasticity and responsivity to the environment as well as a developmental period of dependency on caregivers for survival, nurturance, and stimulation. Across primate species and human evolutionary history, close contact between infants and caregivers is species-expected. As children develop, caregiver-child proximity patterns change as children become more autonomous. In addition to developmental changes, there is variation in caregiver-child proximity across cultures and families, with potential implications for child functioning. We propose that caregiver-child proximity is an important dimension for understanding early environments, given that interactions between children and their caregivers are a primary source of experience-dependent learning. We review approaches for operationalizing this construct (e.g., touch, physical distance) and highlight studies that illustrate how caregiver-child proximity can be measured. Drawing on the concepts proposed in dimensional models of adversity, we consider how caregiver-child proximity may contribute to our understanding of children's early experiences. Finally, we discuss future directions in caregiver-child proximity research with the goal of understanding the link between early experiences and child adaptive and maladaptive functioning.
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21
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Maria A, Hirvi P, Kotilahti K, Heiskala J, Tuulari JJ, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Nissilä I. Imaging affective and non-affective touch processing in two-year-old children. Neuroimage 2022; 251:118983. [PMID: 35149231 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Touch is an important component of early parent-child interaction and plays a critical role in the socio-emotional development of children. However, there are limited studies on touch processing amongst children in the age range from one to three years. The present study used frequency-domain diffuse optical tomography (DOT) to investigate the processing of affective and non-affective touch over left frontotemporal brain areas contralateral to the stimulated forearm in two-year-old children. Affective touch was administered by a single stroke with a soft brush over the child's right dorsal forearm at 3 cm/s, while non-affective touch was provided by multiple brush strokes at 30 cm/s. We found that in the insula, the total haemoglobin (HbT) response to slow brushing was significantly greater than the response to fast brushing (slow > fast). Additionally, a region in the postcentral gyrus, Rolandic operculum and superior temporal gyrus exhibited greater response to fast brushing than slow brushing (fast > slow). These findings confirm that an adult-like pattern of haemodynamic responses to affective and non-affective touch can be recorded in two-year-old subjects using DOT. To improve the accuracy of modelling light transport in the two-year-old subjects, we used a published age-appropriate atlas and deformed it to match the exterior shape of each subject's head. We estimated the combined scalp and skull, and grey matter (GM) optical properties by fitting simulated data to calibrated and coupling error corrected phase and amplitude measurements. By utilizing a two-compartment cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) model, the accuracy of estimation of GM optical properties and the localization of activation in the insula was improved. The techniques presented in this paper can be used to study neural development of children at different ages and illustrate that the technology is well-tolerated by most two-year-old children and not excessively sensitive to subject movement. The study points the way towards exciting possibilities in functional imaging of deeper functional areas near sulci in small children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ambika Maria
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland
| | - Pauliina Hirvi
- Aalto University, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, P.O. Box 12200, AALTO FI-00076, Finland; Aalto University, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis, Finland
| | - Kalle Kotilahti
- Aalto University, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, P.O. Box 12200, AALTO FI-00076, Finland; University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland
| | - Juha Heiskala
- HUS Medical Imaging Center, Clinical Neurophysiology; Clinical Neurosciences, Helsinki, University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jetro J Tuulari
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland; Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, TCSMT, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- University of Turku, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland; University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Finland
| | - Ilkka Nissilä
- Aalto University, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, P.O. Box 12200, AALTO FI-00076, Finland.
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23
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Farroni T, Della Longa L, Valori I. The self-regulatory affective touch: a speculative framework for the development of executive functioning. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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24
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Croy I, Fairhurst MT, McGlone F. The role of C-tactile nerve fibers in human social development. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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25
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Peciccia M, Buratta L, Ardizzi M, Germani A, Ayala G, Ferroni F, Mazzeschi C, Gallese V. Sense of self and psychosis, part 1: Identification, differentiation and the body; A theoretical basis for amniotic therapy. INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF PSYCHOANALYSIS 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/0803706x.2021.1990401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Yu H, Miao W, Ji E, Huang S, Jin S, Zhu X, Liu MZ, Sun YG, Xu F, Yu X. Social touch-like tactile stimulation activates a tachykinin 1-oxytocin pathway to promote social interactions. Neuron 2022; 110:1051-1067.e7. [PMID: 35045339 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.12.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 08/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
It is well known that affective and pleasant touch promotes individual well-being and facilitates affiliative social communication, although the neural circuit that mediates this process is largely unknown. Here, we show that social-touch-like tactile stimulation (ST) enhances firing of oxytocin neurons in the mouse paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH) and promotes social interactions and positively reinforcing place preference. These results link pleasant somatosensory stimulation to increased social interactions and positive affective valence. We further show that tachykinin 1 (Tac1+) neurons in the lateral and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (l/vlPAG) send monosynaptic excitatory projections to PVH oxytocin neurons. Functionally, activation of PVH-projecting Tac1+ neurons increases firing of oxytocin neurons, promotes social interactions, and increases preference for the social touch context, whereas reducing activity of Tac1+ neurons abolishes ST-induced oxytocin neuronal firing. Together, these results identify a dipeptidergic pathway from l/vlPAG Tac1+ neurons to PVH oxytocin neurons, through which pleasant sensory experience promotes social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang Yu
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wanying Miao
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - En Ji
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shajin Huang
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Sen Jin
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Xutao Zhu
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Ming-Zhe Liu
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yan-Gang Sun
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Fuqiang Xu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Xiang Yu
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; School of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, and Peking University McGovern Institute, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Autism Research Center of Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China.
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27
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Mateus V, Osório A, Miguel HO, Cruz S, Sampaio A. Maternal sensitivity and infant neural response to touch: an fNIRS study. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:1256-1263. [PMID: 34086970 PMCID: PMC8716843 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The mother's attunement to her infant's emotional needs influences her use of touching behaviors during mother-infant interactions. Moreover, maternal touch appears to modulate infants' physiological responses to affective touch. However, little is known about the impact of maternal sensitivity on infants' touch processing at a brain level. This study explored the association between maternal sensitivity when infants (N = 24) were 7 months old and their patterns of cortical activation to touch at 12 months. Brain activation was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Changes in oxy-hemoglobin (HbO2) and deoxy-hemoglobin (HHb) concentrations were measured in the left somatosensory cortex and right temporal cortex while infants received two types of tactile stimulation-affective and discriminative touch. Results showed that a lower maternal sensitivity was associated with a higher HbO2 response for discriminative touch over the temporal region. Additionally, infants of less sensitive mothers tended to present a higher response in HbO2 for affective touch over the somatosensory region. These findings suggest that less sensitive interactions might result in a lower exposure to maternal touch, which can be further related to infants' neural processing of touch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Mateus
- Developmental Disorders Graduate Program, Center for Biological and Health Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo 01302-000, Brazil
| | - Ana Osório
- Developmental Disorders Graduate Program, Center for Biological and Health Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo 01302-000, Brazil
| | - Helga O Miguel
- Psychological Neuroscience Laboratory, CIPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga 4710-057, Portugal
| | - Sara Cruz
- The Psychology for Positive Development Research Center, Lusíada University – North, Porto 4369-006, Portugal
| | - Adriana Sampaio
- Psychological Neuroscience Laboratory, CIPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga 4710-057, Portugal
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Massage and touch-based therapy : Clinical evidence, neurobiology and applications in older patients with psychiatric symptoms. Z Gerontol Geriatr 2021; 54:753-758. [PMID: 34812896 PMCID: PMC8609249 DOI: 10.1007/s00391-021-01995-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Background Massage and touch-based treatment are popular despite limited evidence from high quality clinical trials. This article reviews the rationale and evidence of treating older patients with psychiatric symptoms by touch-based therapy. Methods Narrative literature review, based on Medline search with the following key words: massage, social touch, affective touch, clinical trial, meta-analysis. Citations of identified articles were searched for additional relevant studies. Results Evidence from clinical trials in adult patients with mainly chronic disorders of the musculoskeletal system suggests that massage therapy results in significant short-term improvement of symptoms; however, treatment effects appear not to be sustained. In addition, conclusions are difficult to draw owing to very heterogeneous study interventions, difficulties with definition of control conditions and treatment outcomes. There appears to be better evidence for improvement of psychological variables and subjective symptoms, such as pain and quality of life. A neuronal system of affective and social touch has been identified with specific afferents from C‑fibre coupled low threshold mechanoreceptors projecting into the insular cortex and the limbic system. This system may also mediate effects of massage in adult patients. Positive clinical trials for depressive symptoms of dementia and for behavioral symptoms of advanced dementia are available with encouraging results. Conclusion The neuronal system of social and affective touch suggests a potential mechanism of action of touch-based interventions in geriatric psychiatry. In addition, it provides a rationale for applying and designing novel touch-based treatment strategies as adjunctive treatment for psychiatric disorders of old age.
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Van Puyvelde M, Staring L, Schaffers J, Rivas-Smits C, Groenendijk L, Smeyers L, Collette L, Schoofs A, Van den Bossche N, McGlone F. Why do we hunger for touch? The impact of daily gentle touch stimulation on maternal-infant physiological and behavioral regulation and resilience. Infant Ment Health J 2021; 42:823-838. [PMID: 34752649 DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
We report the impact of a Gentle Touch Stimulation (GTS) program. Forty-three mothers provided daily 10-min GTS with C-tactile (CT) afferent optimal stroking touch, for 4 weeks to their 3-12 weeks old infants. CT-afferents are cutaneous unmyelinated, low-threshold mechanosensitive nerves hypothesized to underly the regulatory impact of affective touch. We compared physiological and behavioral responses during a no-touch-baseline (BL), static-touch-baseline (BL-T), intervention/control (GTS/CTRL), Still Face (SF) and Reunion (RU) condition for GTS-infants versus a control-group (CTRL) at the start (T1) and end of (T2) of the program. We collected mother-infant ECG, respiration, cortisol, video-recordings, and diary-reports. At T1, physiological arousal significantly increased during SF in both groups, that is, decreased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and R-R interval (RRI). At T2, GTS-infants showed significantly increased RSA, RRI, decreased respiration during GTS, buffering SF-arousal and allowing complete recovery during RU; CTRL-infants showed higher SF-arousal and small recovery, under initial BL-levels. Maternal cardio-respiratory showed a metabolic investment during RU. Cortisol and behavioral analyses showed higher arousal in CTRL-infants than GTS-infants at T2. We suggest that the combination of phasic short-term and tonic long-term responses to CT-optimal stroking touch, delivered in a structured daily manner, contribute to the building of infant stress regulation and resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martine Van Puyvelde
- VIPER Research Unit, LIFE Department, Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium.,Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Louise Staring
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jana Schaffers
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Cristina Rivas-Smits
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Leysa Groenendijk
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Laura Smeyers
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Laetitia Collette
- Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Anneke Schoofs
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Nora Van den Bossche
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Clinical & Lifespan Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Francis McGlone
- School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.,Institute of Psychology, Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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Vicarious ratings of social touch the effect of age and autistic traits. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19336. [PMID: 34588542 PMCID: PMC8481497 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98802-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Tactile sensitivities are common in Autism Spectrum Conditions (autism). Psychophysically, slow, gentle stroking touch is typically rated as more pleasant than faster or slower touch. Vicarious ratings of social touch results in a similar pattern of velocity dependent hedonic ratings as directly felt touch. Here we investigated whether adults and children’s vicarious ratings vary according to autism diagnosis and self-reported autistic traits. Adults’ scoring high on the AQ rated stroking touch on the palm as less pleasant than a Low AQ group. However, in contrast to our hypothesis, we did not find any effect of autism diagnosis on children’s touch ratings despite parental reports highlighting significant somatosensory sensitivities. These results are discussed in terms of underpinning sensory and cognitive factors.
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Haggarty CJ, Trotter PD, McGlone F, Walker SC. Children's vicarious ratings of social touch are tuned to the velocity but not the location of a caress. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256303. [PMID: 34437583 PMCID: PMC8389448 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Affective sharing is a bottom-up process involving automatic processing of sensory inputs that facilitate vicarious experience of another's emotional state. It is grounded directly in the prior experiences of the perceiver. In adults, vicarious ratings of affective touch match the known velocity tuning and hypothesised anatomical distribution of C-tactile afferents (CT), a subclass of C-fibre which respond preferentially to low force/velocity stroking touch, typically perceived as pleasant. Given the centrality of touch to early nurturing interactions, here we examined whether primary school aged children's vicarious ratings of affective touch show the same anatomical and velocity specific patterns reported in adults. Forty-four children aged between 8 and 11 (mean age 9, 24 male) rated a sequence of video clips depicting one individual being touched by another on 5 different upper-body sites (palm, dorsal forearm, ventral forearm, upper-arm and back) at 3 different velocities (static, CT optimal, slow stroking and non-CT optimal, fast stroking). Immediately after viewing each clip, participants were asked to rate how pleasant they perceived the touch to be. While children rated the CT optimal velocity significantly higher than static or non-CT optimal touch, unlike adults their ratings did not vary across skin sites. This difference may reflect the fact children's ratings are grounded in bottom-up affective resonance while adults also draw on top-down cognitive evaluation of the broader social context when rating the stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connor J. Haggarty
- Research Centre for Brain & Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Paula D. Trotter
- Research Centre for Brain & Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Francis McGlone
- Research Centre for Brain & Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Institute of Psychology, Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Susannah C. Walker
- Research Centre for Brain & Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
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32
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Yoshida S, Funato H. Physical contact in parent-infant relationship and its effect on fostering a feeling of safety. iScience 2021; 24:102721. [PMID: 34235413 PMCID: PMC8250458 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The infant-caregiver relationship involves physical contact for feeding, moving, and other cares, and such contact also encourages the infant to form an attachment, an emotional bond with the caregivers. Physical contact always accompanies somatosensory perception, which is detected by mechanosensory neurons and processed in the brain. Physical contact triggers sensorimotor reflexes such as Transport Response in rodent infants, and calm human infants while being carried. Tactile sensation and deep pressure in physical interactions, such as hugging, can function as emotional communication between infant and caregiver, which can alter the behavior and mood of both the infant and caregiver. This review summarizes the findings related to physical contact between the infant and the caregiver in terms of pleasant, noxious, and neutral somatosensation and discusses how somatosensory perceptions foster a feeling of safety that is important for infant's psychosocial development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sachine Yoshida
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University, Ota-ku, Tokyo 143-8540, Japan
| | - Hiromasa Funato
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University, Ota-ku, Tokyo 143-8540, Japan
- International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
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Kamiya C, Miyake A, Yamada T, Ohmi M, Watanabe H. The effects of massage velocity on heart rate and heart rate variability in healthy infants: A randomized crossover study. Infant Behav Dev 2021; 64:101604. [PMID: 34274848 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Infant massage, in which mothers stroke their infant's skin slowly and gently, can cause pleasant sensations in the infant that can be affected by the velocity of massage. However, the massage velocity at which infants feel the most pleasant sensations remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of massage velocity on heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) in healthy infants. METHOD Twenty-two infant-mother dyads two to seven months of age were recruited. Mothers stroked their infant's skin at three massage velocities (5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 cm/s) in a randomized order for 15 min. The rhythm of massage velocity was calculated according to the length of three body areas. The massage velocity of the mothers was regulated using a metronome. HR and HRV (high frequency [HF] and low frequency [LF]) were measured at rest and during massage for each velocity. The effects on pleasantness were evaluated using percent change in median baseline value compared with median values for the three massage velocities. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance mixed effect models to exclude "period" and "carryover" effects during massage. RESULTS When measuring HF, massage (7.5 cm/s) caused a significant increase in pleasantness compared with 10.0 cm/s (p = 0.04). The HR and LF/HF ratio were not significantly changed between velocities. CONCLUSION Results of this study suggested that a massage velocity of 7.5 cm/s was the most pleasant for infants. Future research should investigate the relationship between an infant massage by optimal velocity and infant development in longitudinal studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiori Kamiya
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Akimitsu Miyake
- Department of Medical Innovation, Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan
| | - Tomomi Yamada
- Department of Medical Innovation, Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan
| | - Masato Ohmi
- Department of Medical Physics and Engineering, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | - Hiroko Watanabe
- Department of Children and Women's Health, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
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Copeland A, Silver E, Korja R, Lehtola SJ, Merisaari H, Saukko E, Sinisalo S, Saunavaara J, Lähdesmäki T, Parkkola R, Nolvi S, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Tuulari JJ. Infant and Child MRI: A Review of Scanning Procedures. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:666020. [PMID: 34321992 PMCID: PMC8311184 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.666020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a safe method to examine human brain. However, a typical MR scan is very sensitive to motion, and it requires the subject to lie still during the acquisition, which is a major challenge for pediatric scans. Consequently, in a clinical setting, sedation or general anesthesia is often used. In the research setting including healthy subjects anesthetics are not recommended for ethical reasons and potential longer-term harm. Here we review the methods used to prepare a child for an MRI scan, but also on the techniques and tools used during the scanning to enable a successful scan. Additionally, we critically evaluate how studies have reported the scanning procedure and success of scanning. We searched articles based on special subject headings from PubMed and identified 86 studies using brain MRI in healthy subjects between 0 and 6 years of age. Scan preparations expectedly depended on subject's age; infants and young children were scanned asleep after feeding and swaddling and older children were scanned awake. Comparing the efficiency of different procedures was difficult because of the heterogeneous reporting of the used methods and the success rates. Based on this review, we recommend more detailed reporting of scanning procedure to help find out which are the factors affecting the success of scanning. In the long term, this could help the research field to get high quality data, but also the clinical field to reduce the use of anesthetics. Finally, we introduce the protocol used in scanning 2 to 5-week-old infants in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, and tips for calming neonates during the scans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anni Copeland
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Eero Silver
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Riikka Korja
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Satu J. Lehtola
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Harri Merisaari
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Ekaterina Saukko
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Susanne Sinisalo
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jani Saunavaara
- Department of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Tuire Lähdesmäki
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Riitta Parkkola
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Saara Nolvi
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jetro J. Tuulari
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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36
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Dubois J, Alison M, Counsell SJ, Hertz‐Pannier L, Hüppi PS, Benders MJ. MRI of the Neonatal Brain: A Review of Methodological Challenges and Neuroscientific Advances. J Magn Reson Imaging 2021; 53:1318-1343. [PMID: 32420684 PMCID: PMC8247362 DOI: 10.1002/jmri.27192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, exploration of the developing brain has become a major focus for researchers and clinicians in an attempt to understand what allows children to acquire amazing and unique abilities, as well as the impact of early disruptions (eg, prematurity, neonatal insults) that can lead to a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders. Noninvasive neuroimaging methods such as MRI are essential to establish links between the brain and behavioral changes in newborns and infants. In this review article, we aim to highlight recent and representative studies using the various techniques available: anatomical MRI, quantitative MRI (relaxometry, diffusion MRI), multiparametric approaches, and functional MRI. Today, protocols use 1.5 or 3T MRI scanners, and specialized methodologies have been put in place for data acquisition and processing to address the methodological challenges specific to this population, such as sensitivity to motion. MR sequences must be adapted to the brains of newborns and infants to obtain relevant good soft-tissue contrast, given the small size of the cerebral structures and the incomplete maturation of tissues. The use of age-specific image postprocessing tools is also essential, as signal and contrast differ from the adult brain. Appropriate methodologies then make it possible to explore multiple neurodevelopmental mechanisms in a precise way, and assess changes with age or differences between groups of subjects, particularly through large-scale projects. Although MRI measurements only indirectly reflect the complex series of dynamic processes observed throughout development at the molecular and cellular levels, this technique can provide information on brain morphology, structural connectivity, microstructural properties of gray and white matter, and on the functional architecture. Finally, MRI measures related to clinical, behavioral, and electrophysiological markers have a key role to play from a diagnostic and prognostic perspective in the implementation of early interventions to avoid long-term disabilities in children. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Dubois
- University of ParisNeuroDiderot, INSERM,ParisFrance
- UNIACT, NeuroSpin, CEA; Paris‐Saclay UniversityGif‐sur‐YvetteFrance
| | - Marianne Alison
- University of ParisNeuroDiderot, INSERM,ParisFrance
- Department of Pediatric RadiologyAPHP, Robert‐Debré HospitalParisFrance
| | - Serena J. Counsell
- Centre for the Developing BrainSchool of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College LondonLondonUK
| | - Lucie Hertz‐Pannier
- University of ParisNeuroDiderot, INSERM,ParisFrance
- UNIACT, NeuroSpin, CEA; Paris‐Saclay UniversityGif‐sur‐YvetteFrance
| | - Petra S. Hüppi
- Division of Development and Growth, Department of Woman, Child and AdolescentUniversity Hospitals of GenevaGenevaSwitzerland
| | - Manon J.N.L. Benders
- Department of NeonatologyUniversity Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht UniversityUtrechtthe Netherlands
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Yavaş S, Bülbül T, Topçu Gavas H. The effect on pain level and comfort of foot massages given by mothers to newborns before heel lancing: Double-blind randomized controlled study. Jpn J Nurs Sci 2021; 18:e12421. [PMID: 33880884 DOI: 10.1111/jjns.12421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION In addition to pharmacological methods, non-pharmacological methods can also be used for reducing pain and increasing comfort during invasive procedures in newborn babies. This study was conducted to determine the effect on pain level and comfort of foot massages given by mothers to newborns before heel lancing. METHODS This is a double-blind randomized controlled experimental study. The sample consisted of 128 newborns including 64 in the intervention group and 64 in the control group. The Newborn Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) and Newborn Comfort Behavior Scale (NCBS) were used to collect the data, along with questionnaires for information on the newborn and mother. The researcher explained to each mother in theory how to do a foot massage at least 2 h before the heel lancing procedure. Mothers then drew random assignments to either an intervention group that would give a foot massage for 3 min with baby oil, or a control group that simply waited 3 min, immediately prior to the lancing. RESULTS It was determined that the foot massage performed by the mother reduced the pain level of babies, increased their comfort levels, and decreased their distress levels. CONCLUSION Nurses play an active role in defining and evaluating the newborn's responses to pain. It is thought that this study will guide nurses working in the clinic in reducing the acute pain that develops with invasive interventions performed on newborns and in preventing the negative effects of pain on the newborn.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tülay Bülbül
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
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Cruciani G, Zanini L, Russo V, Mirabella M, Palamoutsi EM, Spitoni GF. Strengths and weaknesses of affective touch studies over the lifetime: A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 127:1-24. [PMID: 33891971 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Revised: 04/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
C-Tactile (CT) fibers are activated by slow, caress-like stimulations, and convey a specific tactile processing of hedonic and interpersonal components, defined as affective touch. Given the beneficial effects deriving from affective tactile experiences in social interactions at all ages, a systematic review of experimental studies on affective touch perception across the lifespan was performed with the aims of 1) examining whether and how affective touch has been studied in a systematic manner throughout the lifespan; 2) verifying whether the pleasantness associated to affective stimulations is found during the entire lifespan. Empirical human studies on affective touch were searched in two databases (PubMed, PsychINFO) and 112 articles were retrieved. Results indicated that most of the studies recruited participants with a mean age ranging from 18 to 40 years, whereas other age ranges came out as under-represented or not represented at all. Despite high heterogeneity across studies, affective touch was considered as a pleasant experience across the lifetime, and it was associated to specific psychophysiological patterns in infants and adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Cruciani
- Department of Psychology, PhD Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, Rome, Italy.
| | - Ludovica Zanini
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli 1, Rome, Italy
| | - Valentina Russo
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Mirabella
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli 1, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Grazia Fernanda Spitoni
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli 1, Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306-354, Rome, Italy
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Hardin JS, Jones NA, Mize KD, Platt M. Affectionate Touch in the Context of Breastfeeding and Maternal Depression Influences Infant Neurodevelopmental and Temperamental Substrates. Neuropsychobiology 2021; 80:158-175. [PMID: 33461198 PMCID: PMC8117377 DOI: 10.1159/000511604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While numerous studies have demonstrated maternal depression's influence on infant brain development, few studies have examined the changes that occur as a consequence of co-occurring experiential factors that affect quality of mother and infant affectionate touch as well as infant temperament and neurophysiological systems. The aim of the study was to examine the interactive effects of maternal depression and breastfeeding on mother and infant affectionate touch and infant temperament and cortical maturation patterns across early development. METHODS 113 mothers and their infants participated when infants were 1 and 3 months of age. Questionnaires to assess maternal depressive symptoms, feeding, and temperament were completed. Tonic EEG patterns (asymmetry and left and right activity) were collected and the dyads were video-recorded during feeding to assess mother and infant affectionate touch patterns. RESULTS Data analysis showed that EEG activity and mother-infant affectionate touch differed as a function of mood and feeding method. Notably, only infants of depressed mothers that bottle-fed showed right frontal EEG asymmetry and attenuated change in the left frontal region across 3 months. Breastfeeding positively impacted affectionate touch behaviors and was associated with increased left and decreased right frontal EEG activation even for depressed groups. Furthermore, a model incorporating physiology, maternal depression, touch, temperament, and feeding indicated significant prediction for infant affectionate touch (with breastfeeding and affectively positive temperament demonstrating the strongest prediction). Con-clusion: The findings suggest that breastfeeding and the infant's positive temperament influence mother-infant affectionate touch patterns and result in neuroprotective outcomes for infants, even those exposed to maternal depression within early development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jillian S. Hardin
- *Jillian Hardin, Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, 5353 Parkside Drive, Jupiter, FL 33458 (USA),
| | - Nancy Aaron Jones
- Charles E. Schmidt College Science Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, Florida, USA
| | - Krystal D. Mize
- Charles E. Schmidt College Science Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, Florida, USA
| | - Melannie Platt
- Charles E. Schmidt College Science Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, Florida, USA
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Burleson MH, Quigley KS. Social interoception and social allostasis through touch: Legacy of the Somatovisceral Afference Model of Emotion. Soc Neurosci 2021; 16:92-102. [PMID: 31810428 PMCID: PMC7299836 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2019.1702095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Revised: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
John Cacioppo and colleagues' Somatovisceral Afference Model of Emotion (SAME) highlighted the importance of interoception in emotional experience. Here we compare how the SAME and the more recent theory of constructed emotion (TCE) view the role of interoceptive signals in creating emotional experiences. We describe the characteristics of touch sensations that are carried by thin, unmyelinated fibers called C-tactile afferents (CTs) to the posterior insula, and are thus deemed interoceptive despite their typically social (external) origin. We explore how this social interoceptive input might contribute to the emotion-related effects of social touch more generally, and speculate that all social touch, with or without CT afferent stimulation, can directly influence allostasis, or the predictive regulation of short- and long-term energy resources required by the body. Finally, we describe several features of CT-optimal touch that make it a potentially useful tool to help illuminate basic interoceptive mechanisms, emotion-related phenomena, and disorders involving atypical affect or somatosensation. These proposed ideas demonstrate the long intellectual reach of John Cacioppo and Gary Berntson's highly productive scientific collaboration, which was formative for the fields of social neuroscience, social psychophysiology, and affective neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary H Burleson
- School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University , Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Karen S Quigley
- Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR) and Social and Community Reintegration Research (SoCRR) Program, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA , Bedford, MA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University , Boston, MA, USA
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Lunghi C, Iacopini A, Baroni F, Consorti G, Cerritelli F. Thematic Analysis of Attitudes Held by a Group of Italian Osteopaths Toward Osteopathic Evaluation, Treatment, and Management in the Neonatal and Pediatric Field: A Qualitative Study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2021; 44:164-175. [PMID: 33431275 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2020.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Revised: 07/18/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes held by a group of Italian osteopaths toward osteopathic evaluation, treatment, and management in the neonatal and pediatric field. METHODS A thematic analysis with elements of grounded-theory approaches was used. Purposive sampling was used to recruit expert osteopaths in the neonatal and pediatric field. Data were gathered from July 2017 to January 2018 by individual semistructured interviews and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis of the data was then performed. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was used to structure the design of this qualitative study. RESULTS Eight osteopaths participated. Data analysis generated 3 main themes: the role of the osteopath in the collaborative process of care, osteopathic diagnostic-clinical reasoning in the neonatal and pediatric field, and osteopathic treatment in the neonatal and pediatric field. CONCLUSION The present study highlights that Italian osteopaths may prefer interprofessional and integrative activities aimed at supporting adaptive capacity and resilience for pediatric patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Lunghi
- Qualitative Research Division, COME Collaboration ONLUS, Pescara, Italy; Malta ICOM Educational, San Gilijan, Malta.
| | - Alessio Iacopini
- Qualitative Research Division, COME Collaboration ONLUS, Pescara, Italy
| | - Francesca Baroni
- Qualitative Research Division, COME Collaboration ONLUS, Pescara, Italy; Malta ICOM Educational, San Gilijan, Malta
| | - Giacomo Consorti
- Qualitative Research Division, COME Collaboration ONLUS, Pescara, Italy; Research Department of the Centre pour l'Etude, la Recherche et la Diffusion Osteopathiques, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Cerritelli
- Clinical-Based Human Research Department, COME Collaboration ONLUS, Pescara, Italy
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42
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Carozza S, Leong V. The Role of Affectionate Caregiver Touch in Early Neurodevelopment and Parent-Infant Interactional Synchrony. Front Neurosci 2021; 14:613378. [PMID: 33584178 PMCID: PMC7873991 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.613378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Though rarely included in studies of parent–infant interactions, affectionate touch plays a unique and vital role in infant development. Previous studies in human and rodent models have established that early and consistent affectionate touch from a caregiver confers wide-ranging and holistic benefits for infant psychosocial and neurophysiological development. We begin with an introduction to the neurophysiological pathways for the positive effects of touch. Then, we provide a brief review of how affectionate touch tunes the development of infant somatosensory, autonomic (stress regulation), and immune systems. Affective touch also plays a foundational role in the establishment of social affiliative bonds and early psychosocial behavior. These touch-related bonding effects are known to be mediated primarily by the oxytocin system, but touch also activates mesocorticolimbic dopamine and endogenous opioid systems which aid the development of social cognitive processes such as social learning and reward processing. We conclude by proposing a unique role for affectionate touch as an essential pathway to establishing and maintaining parent-infant interactional synchrony at behavioral and neural levels. The limitations of the current understanding of affectionate touch in infant development point to fruitful avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Carozza
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Faculty of Biology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Leong
- Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Devine SL, Walker SC, Makdani A, Stockton ER, McFarquhar MJ, McGlone FP, Trotter PD. Childhood Adversity and Affective Touch Perception: A Comparison of United Kingdom Care Leavers and Non-care Leavers. Front Psychol 2020; 11:557171. [PMID: 33240148 PMCID: PMC7683385 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.557171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the United Kingdom, the most common reasons for a child to come under the care of social services are neglect and abuse. Such early childhood adversity is a risk factor for social-isolation and poor mental health in adulthood. Touch is a key channel for nurturing interactions, and previous studies have shown links between early somatosensory input, experience dependent neural plasticity, and later life emotional functioning. The aim of the present study was to test the relationship between childhood neglect/abuse and later life experiences, attitudes, and hedonic ratings of affective touch. Here, affective touch is defined as low force, dynamic touch which C-Tactile afferents (CTs) respond optimally to. We hypothesized that a childhood lacking in early nurturing tactile stimulation would be associated with reduced sensitivity to socially relevant affective touch in adulthood. To test this, 19 care leavers (average 9.32 ± 3.70 years in foster care) and 32 non-care leavers were recruited through opportunity sampling (mean age = 21.25 ± 1.74 years). Participants completed a range of psychophysical somatosensory tests. First, they rated the pleasantness of CT-optimal (3 cm/s) and non-CT-optimal (0.3 and 30 cm/s) stroking touch applied to their forearm, both robotically and by an experimenter. They also made vicarious ratings of the anticipated pleasantness of social tactile interactions depicted in a series of videos. Finally, they filled in the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and the Touch Experiences and Attitudes Questionnaire (TEAQ). As expected, care leavers reported significantly higher levels of childhood trauma than the control group. They also reported significantly lower levels of positive childhood touch compared to non-care leavers, but their attitudes and experiences of current intimate and affiliative touch did not differ. Across all psychophysical tests, care leavers showed specific reduction in sensitivity to the affective value of CT targeted 3 cm/s touch. The results of this study support the hypothesis that a lack of nurturing touch in early developmental periods leads to blunted sensitivity to the specific social value of affective touch. Future research should investigate the neural and physiological mechanisms underlying the observed effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaunna L Devine
- Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Susannah C Walker
- Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Adarsh Makdani
- Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth R Stockton
- Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Martyn J McFarquhar
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Francis P McGlone
- Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.,Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Paula D Trotter
- Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
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44
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Ciarrusta J, Dimitrova R, McAlonan G. Early maturation of the social brain: How brain development provides a platform for the acquisition of social-cognitive competence. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2020; 254:49-70. [PMID: 32859293 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Across the last century psychology has provided a lot of insight about social-cognitive competence. Recognizing facial expressions, joint attention, discrimination of cues and experiencing empathy are just a few examples of the social skills humans acquire from birth to adolescence. However, how very early brain maturation provides a platform to support the attainment of highly complex social behavior later in development remains poorly understood. Magnetic Resonance Imaging provides a safe means to investigate the typical and atypical maturation of regions of the brain responsible for social cognition in as early as the perinatal period. Here, we first review some technical challenges and advances of using functional magnetic resonance imaging on developing infants to then describe current knowledge on the development of diverse systems associated with social function. We will then explain how these characteristics might differ in infants with genetic or environmental risk factors, who are vulnerable to atypical neurodevelopment. Finally, given the rapid early development of systems necessary for social skills, we propose a new framework to investigate sensitive time windows of development when neural substrates might be more vulnerable to impairment due to a genetic or environmental insult.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Ciarrusta
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom; Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment and Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ralica Dimitrova
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom; Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment and Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Grainne McAlonan
- Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment and Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
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45
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Tuulari JJ, Kataja EL, Leppänen JM, Lewis JD, Nolvi S, Häikiö T, Lehtola SJ, Hashempour N, Saunavaara J, Scheinin NM, Korja R, Karlsson L, Karlsson H. Newborn left amygdala volume associates with attention disengagement from fearful faces at eight months. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 45:100839. [PMID: 32836078 PMCID: PMC7451600 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
After 5 months of age, infants begin to prioritize attention to fearful over other facial expressions. One key proposition is that amygdala and related early-maturing subcortical network, is important for emergence of this attentional bias - however, empirical data to support these assertions are lacking. In this prospective longitudinal study, we measured amygdala volumes from MR images in 65 healthy neonates at 2-5 weeks of gestation corrected age and attention disengagement from fearful vs. non-fearful facial expressions at 8 months with eye tracking. Overall, infants were less likely to disengage from fearful than happy/neutral faces, demonstrating an age-typical bias for fear. Left, but not right, amygdala volume (corrected for intracranial volume) was positively associated with the likelihood of disengaging attention from fearful faces to a salient lateral distractor (r = .302, p = .014). No association was observed with the disengagement from neutral or happy faces in equivalent conditions (r = .166 and .125, p = .186 and .320, respectively). These results are the first to link the amygdala volume with the emerging perceptual vigilance for fearful faces during infancy. They suggest a link from the prenatally defined variability in the amygdala size to early postnatal emotional and social traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jetro J Tuulari
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK (Sigrid Juselius Fellowship), United Kingdom.
| | - Eeva-Leena Kataja
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland; Infant Cognition Laboratory, Center for Child Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Finland
| | - Jukka M Leppänen
- Infant Cognition Laboratory, Center for Child Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Finland
| | - John D Lewis
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Saara Nolvi
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland; Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Tuomo Häikiö
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Satu J Lehtola
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Niloofar Hashempour
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Jani Saunavaara
- Department of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Noora M Scheinin
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Riikka Korja
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Department of Child Psychiatry, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Finland
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Della Longa L, Carnevali L, Patron E, Dragovic D, Farroni T. Psychophysiological and Visual Behavioral Responses to Faces Associated with Affective and Non-affective Touch in Four-month-old Infants. Neuroscience 2020; 464:67-78. [PMID: 32771501 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.07.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Affective touch (gentle, caress-like touch) carries a rewarding meaning, which may represent a neurophysiological foundation for the development of social interactions from the earliest stages of life. Developmental studies have shown evidence of infants' sensitivity to affective touch as reflected by a decrease in heart rate and activation of the insular cortex. Moreover, affective touch has been shown to regulate infants' emotional state, reinforce eye contact and facilitate learning of facial information, suggesting that affective touch may promote social functioning from the earliest stages of development. The present study aims to investigate the role of affective touch in enhancing engagement with social stimuli, exploring sustained attention and cardiac responses to faces as signatures of the underlying psychophysiological mechanism. Four-months-old infants (N = 40) were repeatedly presented with a female face paired with touch (hand stroking vs tapping with a brush in two different blocks) alternating with a face presented without tactile stimulation (familiarization phase), followed by a visual preference test between the two faces. Our results revealed an attenuated cardiac response in the affective compared to the non-affective condition during the familiarization phase. During the test phase infants looked longer at both the faces presented in the affective touch condition, compared to the faces in the non-affective condition. These findings suggest that affective touch might promote engagement in social interactions by facilitating physiological state regulation during processing of multisensory social information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letizia Della Longa
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Patron
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Danica Dragovic
- Paediatric Unit, Hospital of Monfalcone, Monfalcone (GO), Italy
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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Socially-relevant Visual Stimulation Modulates Physiological Response to Affective Touch in Human Infants. Neuroscience 2020; 464:59-66. [PMID: 32659338 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The human tactile system is known to discriminate different types of touches, one of these termed 'affective touch', is mainly mediated by slow conducting tactile afferents (CT fibres), which are preferentially activated by slow and gentle strokes. Human infants experience self-generated tactile stimulation during prenatal life, and they receive a large amount of affectionate touches by their caregivers from birth. This early and extended experience with tactile stimulation may likely make infants particularly sensitive to affective touch, and increasing evidence shows that this may indeed be the case. However, infants commonly experience affective touch in the context of social interactions with familiar adults (e.g., while looking at their caregiver), and recent evidence suggests that this helps them assigning affiliative and communicative meaning to the touch they are perceiving. Here we investigated the presence of visual-tactile interactions in 4-5-month-old infants' physiological (i.e., skin conductance) and behavioural (i.e., visual looking times) responses to visual and tactile stimulation of affective/social nature when the sources of both stimulation are not familiar to the infant. To explore whether the modulation of physiological arousal elicited by the socially-relevant bimodal stimulation is specific to infants or extends into adulthood, we also tested a group of adults. Infants (N = 25) and adults (N = 25) were stimulated on their forearm through slow stroking (i.e. affective touch) or tapping (i.e. non-affective touch) during the observation of dynamic images of socially-relevant (i.e., an unfamiliar face) and non-socially-relevant (i.e., a house) stimuli. We found that the simultaneous presentation of socially-relevant visual-tactile stimuli significantly decreased infants' - but not the adults' - electrodermal response, suggesting that infants easily integrate low-level properties of affective touch with socially salient visual information, and that social experience may tune and change sensitivity to affective touch across the life-span.
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Revisiting the roots of attachment: A review of the biological and psychological effects of maternal skin-to-skin contact and carrying of full-term infants. Infant Behav Dev 2020; 60:101441. [PMID: 32603951 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2019] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
During the early period of hypothesis building and empirical testing of attachment theory, a major emphasis was placed on mother-infant physical contact. In spite of this, mother-infant contact has received scant attention amongst attachment and child development researchers in the past decades. Here, a brief theoretical framework for mother-infant contact is presented, drawing on animal studies as well as human studies of preterm infants and neonates. Salient mechanisms may include an extended sensitive period during early infancy, requiring specific somatosensory stimuli for bio-behavioral homeorhesis; oxytocinergic and epigenetic pathways; kinesthetic stimuli and face-to-face proximity allowing for increased social interaction. Studies of extended human mother-full-term infant physical contact have demonstrated positive effects in multiple domains. For infants, these include sleep organization, temperature and heart rate regulation, behavioral response, crying/colic, socio-emotional development, attachment quality, speech development opportunities and mother-child interactions. For mothers, studies demonstrate improved depressive symptomatology, physiological stress regulation, contingent responsivity, breastfeeding and mother-child interactions. Parent-infant attachment quality has gained prominence as a trauma-resilience factor as well as a predictor of adult physical health. The potential role of mother-infant contact as an attachment promoting intervention as well as future research subjects are discussed. Current evidence supports the original attachment research that early maternal touch provision may influence infant socio-emotional development and attachment quality, with positive implications for mother-child relationship functioning.
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Montirosso R, McGlone F. The body comes first. Embodied reparation and the co-creation of infant bodily-self. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 113:77-87. [PMID: 32145222 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
During infancy relational experiences of body-to-body exchanges (i.e., embodied interactions) contribute to the infant's bodily perception. Early embodied interactions are based on countless multimodal reciprocal exchanges, in which mother and infant contribute to interpersonal rhythmic cycles of co-regulation (i.e., attunement). However, it remains unclear how infants and their mothers actually accomplish attunement in their exchanges. Interactions between mothers and their infants typically fluctuate between attuned and misattuned states and recovery attunement states by a process called 'reparation'. Here, we discuss recent neuroscientific evidence that provides insight into the mechanisms underpinning the concepts of attunement and misattunement in early embodied interactions. We propose that a process of embodied reparation might be achieved within the dyad through tactile contact behaviors (e.g., skin-to-skin, affectionate touch) and maternal interoceptive sensitivity (i.e., ability to perceive internal input about the state of one's own body). We describe how these elements that mothers provide during embodied interactions with their infants, might contribute not only to bodily attunement, but also to co-create the infant bodily-self.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosario Montirosso
- 0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini (Lecco), Italy.
| | - Francis McGlone
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, LiverpoolJohn Moores University, Liverpool, UK; Institute of Psychology Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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Della Longa L, Filippetti ML, Dragovic D, Farroni T. Synchrony of Caresses: Does Affective Touch Help Infants to Detect Body-Related Visual-Tactile Synchrony? Front Psychol 2020; 10:2944. [PMID: 31998194 PMCID: PMC6962176 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Bodily self-awareness, that is the ability to sense and recognize our body as our own, involves the encoding and integration of a wide range of multisensory and motor signals. Infants’ abilities to detect synchrony and bind together sensory information in time and space critically contribute to the process of gradual bodily self-awareness. In particular, early tactile experiences may have a crucial role in promoting self-other differentiation and developing bodily self-awareness. More specifically affective touch, slow and gentle touch linked to the neurophysiologically specialized system of C-tactile afferents, provides both information about the body from within (interoception) and outside (exteroception), suggesting it may be a key component contributing to the experience of bodily self-awareness. The present study aimed to investigate the role of affective touch in the formation and modulation of body perception from the earliest stages of life. Using a preferential looking task, 5-month-old infants were presented with synchronous and asynchronous visuo–tactile body-related stimuli. The socio-affective valence of the tactile stimuli was manipulated by means of the velocity [CT-optimal (slow) touch vs. CT-suboptimal (fast) touch] and the source of touch (human hand vs. brush). For the first time, we show that only infants that were stroked using a brush at slow velocity displayed a preference for the visual–tactile synchronous video, suggesting that CT-optimal touch might help infants to detect body-related visual–tactile synchrony, independently from the source of touch. Our results are in line with findings from adults and indicate that affective touch might have a critical role in the early development of bodily self-awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letizia Della Longa
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Maria Laura Filippetti
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Health, University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom
| | - Danica Dragovic
- Department of Pediatric Unit, Hospital of Monfalcone, Monfalcone, Italy
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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