Understanding the role and function of maternal touch in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities

Provenzi, Livio; Rosa, Elisa Di; Visintin, Eleonora; Mascheroni, Eleonora; Guida, Elena; Cavallini, Anna; Montirosso, Rosario

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101420

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Recent research suggests that the insula may be involved in the early development of self-other rudimentary differentiation in infants [68] and early bodily interactions with parents appear to play a pivotal role in promoting such milestone development during the first months of life [66]. Nonetheless, while previous studies on the role of bodily interactions with the caregiver mainly focused on the mother [69][70][71], very little is known about the role played by fathers' physical stimulations. Previous research suggests that mothers and fathers may engage in different patterns of social touch with their infant [72,73] and that fathers may mirror and resonate specific affective expressions during social-cognition tasks [74].…”

Section: Toward An Integrated View Of the Human Paternal Brainmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paternal Brain in Action: A Review of Human Fathers’ fMRI Brain Responses to Child-Related Stimuli

Provenzi¹,

Lindstedt

Coen

et al. 2021

Brain Sciences

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As fathers are increasingly involved in childcare, understanding the neurological underpinnings of fathering has become a key research issue in developmental psychobiology research. This systematic review specifically focused on (1) highlighting methodological issues of paternal brain research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and (2) summarizing findings related to paternal brain responses to auditory and visual infant stimuli. Sixteen papers were included from 157 retrieved records. Sample characteristics (e.g., fathers’ and infant’s age, number of kids, and time spent caregiving), neuroimaging information (e.g., technique, task, stimuli, and processing), and main findings were synthesized by two independent authors. Most of the reviewed works used different stimuli and tasks to test fathers’ responses to child visual and/or auditory stimuli. Pre-processing and first-level analyses were performed with standard pipelines. Greater heterogeneity emerged in second-level analyses. Three main cortical networks (mentalization, embodied simulation, and emotion regulation) and a subcortical network emerged linked with fathers’ responses to infants’ stimuli, but additional areas (e.g., frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex) were also responsive to infants’ visual or auditory stimuli. This review suggests that a distributed and complex brain network may be involved in facilitating fathers’ sensitivity and responses to infant-related stimuli. Nonetheless, specific methodological caveats, the exploratory nature of large parts of the literature to date, and the presence of heterogeneous tasks and measures also demonstrate that systematic improvements in study designs are needed to further advance the field.

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Section: Toward An Integrated View Of the Human Paternal Brainmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paternal Brain in Action: A Review of Human Fathers’ fMRI Brain Responses to Child-Related Stimuli

Provenzi¹,

Lindstedt

Coen

et al. 2021

Brain Sciences

Self Cite

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“… Provenzi et al (2020) examine type of maternal touch eliciting gaze orienting in infants with and without neurodevelopmental disability. Findings suggest types of touch are important in supporting infants’ attention, but that the types of touch facilitating social orientation may vary with neurodevelopmental status.…”

Section: Caregiver Touchmentioning

confidence: 99%

To have and to hold: Effects of physical contact on infants and their caregivers

Bigelow

Williams

2020

Infant Behavior and Development

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“…Similarly, both touch and oxytocin alter brain activity in different ways depending on the relational context (Ellingsen et al, 2016;Baettig et al, 2019), which highlights the importance of including measures of attachment in studies of affectionate touch. Furthermore, a wide range of developmental disorders, including autism, have been bidirectionally linked to differences in touch interactions in infancy (Feldman et al, 2004;Cascio, 2010;Van keer et al, 2019;Provenzi et al, 2020). For example, in autism, atypical touch behavior is implicated as both a predictor of severity (e.g., children who show heightened tactile responsivity later develop greater autistic behaviors) and well as a potential compensatory mechanism (e.g., mothers of children with autism use more and longer-lasting physical proximity and touch to upregulate social engagement) (Doussard-Roosevelt et al, 2003;Saint-Georges et al, 2011;Mammen et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Affectionate Caregiver Touch in Early Neurodevelopment and Parent–Infant Interactional Synchrony

Carozza

Leong

2021

Front. Neurosci.

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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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Understanding the role and function of maternal touch in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities

Cited by 25 publications

References 50 publications

The Paternal Brain in Action: A Review of Human Fathers’ fMRI Brain Responses to Child-Related Stimuli

The Paternal Brain in Action: A Review of Human Fathers’ fMRI Brain Responses to Child-Related Stimuli

To have and to hold: Effects of physical contact on infants and their caregivers

The Role of Affectionate Caregiver Touch in Early Neurodevelopment and Parent–Infant Interactional Synchrony

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