Social touch alters newborn monkey behavior

Abstract

Highlights• Few studies have explored the role of touch in infants' psychological development.• We investigated the acute effects of social (CT-targeted) touch in newborn monkeys.• Infants' environments were experimentally controlled, offering unique insight.• During touch, infants exhibited fewer stress-related behaviors.• Eye tracking revealed that touch influenced some aspects of infants' attention.

To have and to hold: Effects of physical contact on infants and their caregivers

“… Simpson et al (2019) examine the effect of human caregiver touch on infant monkeys’ subsequent attention to social and non-social displays. Soothing caregiver touch reduced stress-related behaviors in the infant monkeys and influenced their interest in social displays.…”

Human and monkey infant attention to dynamic social and nonsocial stimuli

“…These social preferences persist as infants develop (Sifre et al., 2018), while also becoming specialized for familiar categories, such as primary caretakers’ species, race, and gender (Quinn, Lee, & Pascalis, 2019; Scott & Fava, 2013). These social sensitivities appear evolutionarily conserved across primates and emerge early in development, shaped by infants’ social experiences (Simpson, Maylott, Lazo, et al, 2019). Yet, not all infants are equally socially attentive.…”

Neural basis of multi-sensory communication in primates

“…One of the first modes of communication between parent and infant in primates is touch (Simpson et al 2019). Touch is usually initiated by the glabrous skin of the fingerswhich is packed with Meissner's corpuscles (Hoffmann et al 2004;Verendeev et al 2015); and is sometimes referred to as the "tactile fovea".…”