IJERPH, Vol. 18, Pages 2212: In Touch with the Heartbeat: Newborns ’ Cardiac Sensitivity to Affective and Non-Affective Touch

IJERPH, Vol. 18, Pages 2212: In Touch with the Heartbeat: Newborns’ Cardiac Sensitivity to Affective and Non-Affective Touch International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052212 Authors: Letizia Della Longa Danica Dragovic Teresa Farroni The sense of touch is the first manner of contact with the external world, providing a foundation for the development of sensorimotor skills and socio-affective behaviors. In particular, affective touch is at the core of early interpersonal interactions and the developing bodily self, promoting the balance between internal physiological state and responsiveness to external environment. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether newborns are able to discriminate between affective touch and non-affective somatosensory stimulations and whether affective touch promotes a positive physiological state. We recorded full-term newborns’ (N = 30) heart rate variability (HRV)—which reflects oscillations of heart rate associated with autonomic cardio-respiratory regulation—while newborns were presented with two minutes of affective (stroking) and non-affective (tapping) touch alternated with two minutes of resting in a within-subject design. The results revealed that non-affective touch elicits a decrease in HRV, whereas affective touch does not result in a change of HRV possibly indicating maintenance of calm physiological state. Thus, newborns showed cardiac sensitivity to differe...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research