Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 22, 2026
09:38
Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
Published on: January 29, 2014
11.3K
Gentle touch perception: From early childhood to adolescence
Ilona Croy1, Isac Sehlstedt2, Helena Backlund Wasling3
1Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Dresden, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
|September 21, 2017
Summary
Children prefer gentle, C-tactile-targeted touch, similar to adults. This preference for pleasant touch, conveyed by C-tactile fibers, is important for social development and shaping the social brain.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Psychophysics
Background:
- Affective touch is crucial for social interaction and social brain development in children.
- C-tactile (CT) fibers, activated by slow, gentle stroking, transmit positive affective touch and can lower heart rate.
- Understanding age-related responses to affective touch informs developmental theories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between age and psychophysical ratings of affective touch in children.
- To compare children's preferences for C-tactile-targeted stimulation with existing data from adolescents and adults.
- To explore the role of CT afferent stimulation in social development.
Main Methods:
- Participants included 43 children (5-12 years) divided into early (5-8) and late (9-12) childhood groups.
- Children rated touch pleasantness using an affective pictorial scale for C-tactile optimal and sub-optimal stroking velocities.
- Psychophysical ratings were analyzed in relation to age and stimulation type.
Main Results:
- Both early and late childhood groups showed a preference for C-tactile-targeted stimulation.
- Children's preference for CT-targeted touch was comparable to that of adolescents and adults.
- This suggests a consistent preference for pleasant, CT-mediated touch across development.
Conclusions:
- Children's preference for C-tactile-targeted touch is established early and persists into adulthood.
- Pleasantness associated with CT afferent stimulation likely shapes these preferences.
- CT afferent stimulation plays a significant role in children's social development and brain maturation.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
8.2K
The history of therapeutic communication can be traced back to Florence Nightingale, who emphasized the importance of developing trusting relationships with patients. She taught that the presence of nurses with patients results in therapeutic healing.
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
8.2K
01:33Somatosensation
43.8K
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
43.8K
01:14Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
2.0K
The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
Exploration...
2.0K
01:18Cognitive Development During Adolescence
699
During adolescence, individuals experience significant cognitive development that enhances their understanding of others' emotions and thoughts, known as cognitive empathy. This period is marked by an increased ability to adapt to others' perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of others' mental states, a skill that is foundational for social problem-solving and conflict avoidance. The development of cognitive empathy relies heavily on the theory of mind — the...
699
01:11Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System
11.5K
The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...
11.5K
01:27Tactile and Chemical Senses
959
Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.
959