Maternal sensitivity and infant neural response to touch: an fNIRS study

Author(s)

Mateus, Vera ^[1] ; Osorio, Ana ^[1] ; Miguel, Helga O. ^{[2, 3]} ; Cruz, Sara ^[4] ; Sampaio, Adriana ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Prebiteriana Mackenzie, Ctr Biol & Hlth Sci, Dev Disorders Grad Program, Rua Consolacao 930, BR-01302000 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Minho, Sch Psychol, Psychol Neurosci Lab, CIPsi, P-4710057 Braga - Portugal

^[3] NICHHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 - USA

^[4] Lusiada Univ North, Psychol Posit Dev Res Ctr, P-4369006 Porto - Portugal

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE; v. 16, n. 12, p. 1256-1263, DEC 2022.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

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 (HbO(2)) 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 HbO(2) response for discriminative touch over the temporal region. Additionally, infants of less sensitive mothers tended to present a higher response in HbO(2) 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. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/50282-5 - Positive psychology and neuroscience: translational research to promote well-being and emotional regulation
• Grantee: Emma Otta
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Centers in Engineering Program
• FAPESP's process: 18/09398-0 - Trajectories of neural processing of motor actions in the first year of life and its association with the development of social cognition
• Grantee: Vera Lúcia Esteves Mateus
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral