|
1
|
Kaur S, Espenhahn S, Bell T, Godfrey KJ, Nwaroh C, Giuffre A, Cole L, Beltrano W, Yan T, Stokoe M, Haynes L, Hou TY, Tommerdahl M, Bray S, Harris AD. Nonlinear age effects in tactile processing from early childhood to adulthood. Brain Behav 2022; 12:e2644. [PMID: 35676225 PMCID: PMC9304836 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tactile processing plays a pivotal role in the early stages of human development; however, little is known about tactile function in young children. An understanding of how tactile processing changes with age from early childhood to adulthood is fundamental in understanding altered tactile experiences in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 142 children and adults aged 3-23 years completed a vibrotactile testing battery consisting of 5 tasks, which rely on different cortical and cognitive mechanisms. The battery was designed to be suitable for testing in young children to investigate how tactile processing changes from early childhood to adulthood. RESULTS Our results suggest a pattern of rapid, age-related changes in tactile processing toward lower discrimination thresholds (lower discrimination thresholds = greater sensitivity) across early childhood, though we acknowledge limitations with cross-sectional data. Differences in the rate of change across tasks were observed, with tactile performance reaching adult-like levels at a younger age on some tasks compared to others. CONCLUSIONS While it is known that early childhood is a period of profound development including tactile processing, our data provides evidence for subtle differences in the developmental rate of the various underlying cortical, physical, and cognitive processes. Further, we are the first to show the feasibility of vibrotactile testing in early childhood (<6 years). The results of this work provide estimates of age-related differences in performance, which could have important implications as a reference for investigating altered tactile processing in developmental disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sakshi Kaur
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Svenja Espenhahn
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Tiffany Bell
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Kate J Godfrey
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Chidera Nwaroh
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Adrianna Giuffre
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Lauran Cole
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Winnica Beltrano
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Tingting Yan
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Mehak Stokoe
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Logan Haynes
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Tasha Yuntao Hou
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Mark Tommerdahl
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Signe Bray
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Ashley D Harris
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| |
Collapse
|