Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactions
Caregiver touch plays a vital role in infants’ growth and development, but its role as a communicative signal in human parent-infant interactions is surprisingly poorly understood. Here, we assessed whether touch and proximity in caregiver-infant dyads are related to neural and physiological synchro...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-12-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921008727 |
| _version_ | 1818820958881841152 |
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| author | Trinh Nguyen Drew H. Abney Dina Salamander Bennett I. Bertenthal Stefanie Hoehl |
| author_facet | Trinh Nguyen Drew H. Abney Dina Salamander Bennett I. Bertenthal Stefanie Hoehl |
| author_sort | Trinh Nguyen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Caregiver touch plays a vital role in infants’ growth and development, but its role as a communicative signal in human parent-infant interactions is surprisingly poorly understood. Here, we assessed whether touch and proximity in caregiver-infant dyads are related to neural and physiological synchrony. We simultaneously measured brain activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia of 4–6-month-old infants and their mothers (N=69 dyads) in distal and proximal joint watching conditions as well as in an interactive face-to-face condition. Neural synchrony was higher during the proximal than during the distal joint watching conditions, and even higher during the face-to-face interaction. Physiological synchrony was highest during the face-to-face interaction and lower in both joint watching conditions, irrespective of proximity. Maternal affectionate touch during the face-to-face interaction was positively related to neural but not physiological synchrony. This is the first evidence that touch mediates mutual attunement of brain activities, but not cardio-respiratory rhythms in caregiver-infant dyads during naturalistic interactions. Our results also suggest that neural synchrony serves as a biological pathway of how social touch plays into infant development and how this pathway could be utilized to support infant learning and social bonding. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:00:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-345ce35e5417444cbf7435cffdb48f7e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:00:34Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj.art-345ce35e5417444cbf7435cffdb48f7e2022-12-21T20:48:36ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722021-12-01244118599Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactionsTrinh Nguyen0Drew H. Abney1Dina Salamander2Bennett I. Bertenthal3Stefanie Hoehl4Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, Vienna 1010, Austria; Corresponding author.Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA 30602, United StatesDepartment of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, Vienna 1010, AustriaDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN 47405, United StatesDepartment of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, Vienna 1010, AustriaCaregiver touch plays a vital role in infants’ growth and development, but its role as a communicative signal in human parent-infant interactions is surprisingly poorly understood. Here, we assessed whether touch and proximity in caregiver-infant dyads are related to neural and physiological synchrony. We simultaneously measured brain activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia of 4–6-month-old infants and their mothers (N=69 dyads) in distal and proximal joint watching conditions as well as in an interactive face-to-face condition. Neural synchrony was higher during the proximal than during the distal joint watching conditions, and even higher during the face-to-face interaction. Physiological synchrony was highest during the face-to-face interaction and lower in both joint watching conditions, irrespective of proximity. Maternal affectionate touch during the face-to-face interaction was positively related to neural but not physiological synchrony. This is the first evidence that touch mediates mutual attunement of brain activities, but not cardio-respiratory rhythms in caregiver-infant dyads during naturalistic interactions. Our results also suggest that neural synchrony serves as a biological pathway of how social touch plays into infant development and how this pathway could be utilized to support infant learning and social bonding.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921008727Mother-infant interactionFunctional near-infrared spectroscopyHyperscanningSynchronyRespiratory sinus arrhythmiaTouch |
| spellingShingle | Trinh Nguyen Drew H. Abney Dina Salamander Bennett I. Bertenthal Stefanie Hoehl Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactions NeuroImage Mother-infant interaction Functional near-infrared spectroscopy Hyperscanning Synchrony Respiratory sinus arrhythmia Touch |
| title | Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactions |
| title_full | Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactions |
| title_fullStr | Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactions |
| title_short | Proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother-infant interactions |
| title_sort | proximity and touch are associated with neural but not physiological synchrony in naturalistic mother infant interactions |
| topic | Mother-infant interaction Functional near-infrared spectroscopy Hyperscanning Synchrony Respiratory sinus arrhythmia Touch |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921008727 |
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