a Division of Imaging, Behavior, and Genetic Integrity, Section on Analytical and Functional, National Institute of Child and Human Development, NIH , Bethesda , MD , USA.
b Neuropsychophysiology Lab, CiPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar , Braga , Portugal.
Soc Neurosci. 2019 Oct;14(5):571-582. doi: 10.1080/17470919.2018.1536000. Epub 2018 Oct 23.
The affective-motivational component of touch has been shown to consistently activate the social- brain network in children, adolescents and adults, including the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). However, very little is known about the neural mechanisms of affective touch processing during the first year of life. The objective of the present study was to analyze brain response to affective and discriminative touch in a sample of seven-month-old infants (N = 35) who were followed longitudinally at 12 months of age (N = 25). Infants were given affective and discriminative touch to the bare forearm while their brain response was recorded using functional near-spectroscopy (fNIRS). Seven-month-olds presented brain activation for affective and discriminative stimuli in channels placed over the somatosensory region, but no activation was recorded in channels placed in the temporal region for affective touch. At 12 months of age, infants presented a significant increase in hemodynamic activity in channels placed over the temporal region for affective touch, compared to seven-month-olds. Our study presents evidence of a developmental trajectory for distinct aspects of touch brain processing in the first year of life, with the recruitment of the temporal region for the affective component of touch, maturing in the second semester of life.
触摸的情感动机成分已被证明能在儿童、青少年和成人的社会大脑网络中持续激活，包括后上颞回（pSTS）。然而，对于生命第一年中情感触觉处理的神经机制知之甚少。本研究的目的是分析在 7 个月大的婴儿样本中（n=35）对情感和辨别性触觉的大脑反应，这些婴儿在 12 个月大时（n=25）进行了纵向随访。在使用功能近光谱学（fNIRS）记录大脑反应的同时，向婴儿的裸露前臂提供情感和辨别性触觉。7 个月大的婴儿在放置在躯体感觉区域的通道中对情感和辨别性刺激呈现出大脑激活，但在放置在颞区的通道中没有记录到情感触摸的激活。在 12 个月大时，与 7 个月大的婴儿相比，婴儿在放置在颞区的通道中对情感触摸的血流动力学活动显著增加。我们的研究提供了生命第一年中触摸大脑处理不同方面的发展轨迹的证据，即颞区对触摸的情感成分的募集，在生命的第二个半年成熟。
