Trial reportThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2009
Massage accelerates brain development and the maturation of visual function.
Trial report in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 95 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect on Early Somatic Growth of a Daily Kinesthetic Stimulation on Preterm Infants Either In Kangaroo Position or in Incubator: A Randomized Control Trial
Structural Variations of the Neural Genome as Prognostic Biomarkers for Prematurity Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Childhood
Early Recognition and Intervention in Siblings at High-risk for Neurodevelopmental Disorder
Who cites it
95 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 244 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sensory-based interventions in the NICU: systematic review of effects on preterm brain development.Pediatric research · 2022Pooled it
- Home based early intervention with CareToy-Revised in infants with early brain injury: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Trial
- Effects of SAFE Early Intervention Approach in the First Months of Life in Infants at Risk: A Randomized Controlled Study.Child: care, health and development · 2025Trial
- Effect of whole body massage on pain scores of neonates during venous puncture and comparison with oral dextrose and Kangaroo care, a randomized controlled evaluator-blind clinical study.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2023Trial
- Early maternal care restores LINE-1 methylation and enhances neurodevelopment in preterm infants.BMC medicine · 2021Trial
- Passive range of motion exercise to enhance growth in infants following the Norwood procedure: a safety and feasibility trial.Cardiology in the young · 2017Trial
- A randomized clinical trial in preterm infants on the effects of a home-based early intervention with the 'CareToy System'.PloS one · 2017Trial
- PREMM: preterm early massage by the mother: protocol of a randomised controlled trial of massage therapy in very preterm infants.BMC pediatrics · 2016Trial
- Home-based, early intervention with mechatronic toys for preterm infants at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (CARETOY): a RCT protocol.BMC pediatrics · 2014Trial
- A randomized-controlled trial pilot study examining the neurodevelopmental effects of a 5-week M Technique intervention on very preterm infants.Advances in neonatal care : official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses · 2014Trial
- Massage improves growth quality by decreasing body fat deposition in male preterm infants.The Journal of pediatrics · 2013Trial
- Trial
- Family nurture intervention (FNI): methods and treatment protocol of a randomized controlled trial in the NICU.BMC pediatrics · 2012Trial
- Translational Initiative to Minimize Childhood Hemiparesis After Asymmetrical Perinatal Brain Injury.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exposure to enriched environment and parental care ameliorates brain pathology and behavioral impairment after germinal-matrix intraventricular hemorrhage.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Tau pathology in mouse spinal neurons underlies early touch loss and heralds cognitive decline.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- Neonatal neuroplasticity and metaplasticity: bridging neuroscience to clinical practice.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Review
- Early positive tactile stimulation reverses the increase of anxiety and decrease of sociality induced by early chronic mechanical pain in mandarin voles.Integrative zoology · 2025Article
- Limited Short-Term Effects of Tactile Stimulation on the Welfare of Newborn Nellore Calves.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Environmental enrichment (EE) was shown recently to accelerate brain development in rodents. Increased levels of maternal care, and particularly tactile stimulation through licking and grooming, may represent a key component in the early phases of EE. We hypothesized that enriching the environment in terms of body massage may thus accelerate brain development in infants. We explored the effects of body massage in preterm infants and found that massage accelerates the maturation of electroencephalographic activity and of visual function, in particular visual acuity. In massaged infants, we found higher levels of blood IGF-1. Massage accelerated the maturation of visual function also in rat pups and increased the level of IGF-1 in the cortex. Antagonizing IGF-1 action by means of systemic injections of the IGF-1 antagonist JB1 blocked the effects of massage in rat pups. These results demonstrate that massage has an influence on brain development and in particular on visual development and suggest that its effects are mediated by specific endogenous factors such as IGF-1.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.