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

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Carozza, Sofia 
Leong, Victoria 

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.

Description

Keywords

neurodevelopment, oxytocin, parent–infant, social interaction, synchrony, touch

Journal Title

Front Neurosci

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1662-4548
1662-453X

Volume Title

14

Publisher

Frontiers Media SA

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Economic and Social Research Council (ES/N006461/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/2)
This research was funded by a Marshall Scholarship to SC, an ESRC Transforming Social Sciences grant to VL (ES/N006461/1), a Nanyang Technological University grant to VL (M4081585.SS0), and Ministry of Education (Singapore) Tier 1 grants to VL (M4012105.SS0 and M4011750.SS0).