Affective and non-affective touch evoke differential brain responses in 2-month-old infants
Open accessAbstract
Caressing touch is an effective way to communicate emotions and to create social bonds. It is also one of the key mediators of early parental bonding. The caresses are generally thought to represent a social form of touching and indeed, slow, gentle brushing is encoded in specialized peripheral nerve fibers, the C-tactile (CT) afferents. In adults, areas such as the posterior insula and superior temporal sulcus are activated by affective, slow stroking touch but not by fast stroking stimulation. However, whether these areas are activated in infants, after social tactile stimulation, is unknown. In this study, we compared the total hemoglobin responses measured with diffuse optical tomography (DOT) in the left hemisphere following slow and fast stroking touch stimulation in 16 2-month-old infants. We compared slow stroking (optimal CT afferent stimulation) to fast stroking (non-optimal CT stimulation). Activated regions were delineated using two methods: one based on contrast between the two conditions, and the other based on voxel-based statistical significance of the difference between the two conditions. The first method showed a single activation cluster in the temporal cortex with center of gravity in the middle temporal gyrus where the total hemoglobin increased after the slow stroking relative to the fast stroking (p = 0.04 uncorrected). The second method revealed a cluster in the insula with an increase in total hemoglobin in the insular cortex in response to slow stroking relative to fast stroking (p = 0.0005 uncorrected; p = 0.04 corrected for multiple comparisons). These activation clusters encompass areas that are involved in processing of affective, slow stroking touch in the adult brain. We conclude that the infant brain shows a pronounced and adult-like response to slow stroking touch compared to fast stroking touch in the insular cortex but the expected response in the primary somatosensory cortex was not found at this age. The results imply that emotionally valent touch is encoded in the brain in adult-like manner already soon after birth and this suggests a potential for involvement of touch in bonding with the caretaker.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Jönsson et al. (2018) found that slow stroking touch (similar to emotionally valent touch or caressing), but not fast touch, yielded neurological activations similar to activations in developed, adult brains.
“Using diffuse optical tomography with 2-month-old infants, Jönsson et al. (2018) found that slow stroking touch (similar to emotionally valent touch or caressing), but not fast touch, yielded neurological activations similar to activations in developed, adult brains.”
From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Jönsson et al. (2018)
Recent neuroimaging studies support the view that infants evolved for positive touch from the first months of life.
“Recent neuroimaging studies support the view that infants evolved for positive touch from the first months of life.”
From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Jönsson et al. (2018)
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Harlow, H. F. (1958) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/h0047884 · Cited by 2,022 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The infant monkey preferred clinging to a soft mother surrogate compared to a surrogate made of wire (Harlow, 1958).”
BackgroundTouch communicates distinct emotions.
Hertenstein, M. J., Keltner, D., App, B., Bulleit, B. A., & Jaskolka, A. R. (2006) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.6.3.528 · Cited by 770 · see citing works
Unmyelinated afferents constitute a second system coding tactile stimuli of the human hairy skin
Vallbo, Å. B., Olausson, H., & Wessberg, J. (1999) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.1999.81.6.2753 · Cited by 571 · see citing works
Self-citationMassage for promoting growth and development of preterm and/or low birth-weight infants
Vickers, A., Ohlsson, A., Lacy, J., & Horsley, A. (2004) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd000390.pub2 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Early specialization for voice and emotion processing in the infant brain
Blasi, A., Mercure, E., Lloyd-Fox, S., Thomson, A., Brammer, M., Sauter, D., Deeley, Q., Barker, G. J., Renvall, V., Deoni, S., et al. (2011) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.06.009 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Social perception in infancy: A near infrared spectroscopy study
Lloyd-Fox, S., Blasi, A., Volein, A., Everdell, N., Elwell, C. E., & Johnson, M. H. (2009) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01312.x · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Autistic traits are associated with diminished neural response to affective touch
Voos, A. C., Pelphrey, K. A., & Kaiser, M. D. (2013) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nss009 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Pleasant human touch is represented in pregenual anterior cingulate cortex
Lindgren, L., Westling, G., Brulin, C., Lehtipalo, S., Andersson, M., & Nyberg, L. (2012) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.013 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Development of brain mechanisms for processing affective touch
Björnsdotter, M., Gordon, I., Pelphrey, K. A., Olausson, H., & Kaiser, M. D. (2014) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00024 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 7
- Cope, M., 1991. The Application of Near Infrared Spectroscopy to Non Invasive Monitoring of Cerebral Oxygenation in the Newborn Infant. PhD Thesis. University College London.
- Eyre, J.A., 1992. The Development of the Nervous System. In the Neurophysiological Examination of the Newborn Infant, pp. 1-9.
- Feldman, R., Rosenthal, Z., Eidelman, A.I., 2014. Maternal-preterm skin-to-skin contact enhances child physiologic organization and cognitive control across the first 10 years of life. Biol. Psychiatr. 75 (1), 56-64.
- Kotzberg, M.G., Chen, B.R., DeLeo, S.E., Bouchard, M.B., Hillman, E.M.C., 2013. Resolving the transition from negative to positive blood oxygen level-dependent responses in the developing brain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Unit. States Am. 110, 4380-4385.
- Perini, I., Olausson, H., Morrison, I., 2015. Seeking pleasant touch: neural correlates of behavioral preferences for skin stroking, 2015 Feb 5 Front. Behav. Neurosci. 9, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00008. eCollection 2015. · DOI
- Uvn€ as-Moberg, K., 2012. Short-term and long-term effects of oxytocin released by suckling and skin-to-skin contact in mothers and infants. In: Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: from Research to Practice, pp. 299-306.
- Zeff, B.W., White, B.R., Dehghani, H., Schlaggar, B.L., Culver, J.P., 2007. Retinotopic mapping of adult human visual cortex with high-density diffuse optical tomography. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Unit. States Am. 104, 12169-12174.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The brain-body disconnect: A somatic sensory basis for trauma-related disorders
Kearney, B. E., & Lanius, R. A. (2022) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.1015749 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
“Figure 4 presents a hypothetical CTafferent pathway based on its innervation of the posterior insula in humans (Olausson et al., 2002, 2008; Björnsdotter et al., 2009; McGlone et al., 2014; Jönsson et al., 2018; Tuulari et al., 2019) and the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and hypothalamus in mice (Yu et al.”
BackgroundSmirni, D., Smirni, P., Carotenuto, M., Parisi, L., Quatrosi, G., & Roccella, M. (2019) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci9120368 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development
Tarsha, M. S., & Narvaez, D. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1113944 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
- Authors
- Jönsson, E. H., Kotilahti, K., Heiskala, J., Wasling, H. B., Olausson, H., Croy, I., Mustaniemi, H., Hiltunen, P., Tuulari, J. J., Scheinin, N. M., Karlsson, L., Karlsson, H., & Nissilä, I.
- Affiliations
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Aalto University (FI)
- Helsinki University Hospital (FI)
- Linköping University (SE)
- University of Turku (FI)
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-04
- Volume
- 169
- Pages
- 162-171
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2773026318
- Cited by
- 143
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 11.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Aaltodoc (Aalto University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Jane ja Aatos Erkon Säätiö
- Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (MAW2014-009, MAW2015-009)
- Academy of Finland (303937, 269282, 253270, 134950, 273451)
- Signe ja Ane Gyllenbergin Säätiö
- Vetenskapsrådet (2015-02684)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Keywords
- affective touch, C-tactile afferents, infant brain development, insula, middle temporal gyrus, hemoglobin response, diffuse optical tomography, social bonding, parental bonding, tactile communication, primary somatosensory cortex
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Afferent Pathways, Child Development, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Physical Stimulation, Somatosensory Cortex, Temporal Lobe, Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared, Touch Perception
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
