Social touch and neonatal development
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study into the relationship between social touch and attention and learning in newborn infants
IRAS ID
168368
Contact name
Topun Austin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Caregiving through touch (e.g. skin-to-skin kangaroo care, gentle stoking or massage) has been shown to improve mental and physical growth of infants born prematurely (Feldman et al, 2014) as well as to diminish the negative effects of maternal depression (Sharp et al, 2012). This research aims to understand the mechanisms through which touch affects cognitive and brain development. Our hypothesis is that touch promotes learning by modulating the state of arousal of the infant. We will measure arousal (indexed by heart rate and facial expressions), visual attention and learning (using well known visual habituation paradigms), while a group of newborns experience gentle stroking (applied by a researcher) as compared to a group of infants that do not experience tactile stimulation.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EE/0179
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion