ArticleDevelopmental cognitive neuroscience2019
Dynamic touch reduces physiological arousal in preterm infants: A role for c-tactile afferents?
Article in Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05039918 (The Healing Power of Touch), which is not on this map. Cited by 48 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.
The Healing Power of Touch: Investigation of a Peripheral Neurological Mechanism for Reducing Pain and Enhancing Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 111 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Review on the Vagus Nerve and Autonomic Nervous System During Fetal Development: Searching for Critical Windows.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Randomized trial evaluating sensorimotor stimulation and functional feeding in high-risk newborns: study protocol.Pediatric research · 2026Trial
- Effect of parental touch on relieving acute procedural pain in neonates and parental anxiety (Petal): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial in the UK.The Lancet. Child & adolescent health · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Effects of formal aquatic activities on health and developmental outcomes in infants and toddlers younger than 36 months: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- From touch to triage: translating the NAME model into clinical practice for enhanced neonatal assessment.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Oxytocin release patterns and effects, with a focus on touch, social interaction, and closeness.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Impact of touch interventions on brain activity in moderately preterm infants: study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Newly validated touch experiences and attitudes questionnaire in German (TEAQ-G) is linked to social functioning, mental health, and hormonal stress regulation.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- It's Safe to Look: Maternal Touch Affects Infants' Fear Bias.Developmental science · 2025Article
- Three-Dimensional Posture Analysis-Based Modifications After Manual Therapy: A Preliminary Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Caregivers' response to cardiorespiratory events in preterm infants in the NICU - A quantitative overview.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Observational
- Affective Touch in Preterm Infant Development: Neurobiological Mechanisms and Implications for Child-Caregiver Attachment and Neonatal Care.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Parental participation in neonatal heel lance pain management.Translational pediatrics · 2024Article
- Review
- Article
- Gaze Orienting in the Social World: An Exploration of the Role Played by Caregiving Vocal and Tactile Behaviors in Infants with Visual Impairment and in Sighted Controls.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Evolutionarily conserved neural responses to affective touch in monkeys transcend consciousness and change with age.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Maternal interoceptive focus is associated with greater reported engagement in mother-infant stroking and rocking.PloS one · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Preterm birth is a significant risk factor for a range of long-term health problems and developmental disabilities. Though touch plays a central role in many perinatal care strategies, the neurobiological basis of these approaches is seldom considered. C-Tactile afferents (CTs) are a class of unmyelinated nerve fibre activated by low force, dynamic touch. Consistent with an interoceptive function, touch specifically targeted to activate CTs activates posterior insular cortex and has been reported to reduce autonomic arousal. The present study compared the effect of 5 min of CT optimal velocity stroking touch to 5 min of static touch on the heart-rate and oxygen saturation levels of preterm infants between 28- & 37-weeks gestational age. CT touch produced a significant decrease in infants' heart-rates and increase in their blood oxygenation levels, which sustained throughout a 5-min post-touch period. In contrast, there was no significant change in heart-rate or blood oxygenation levels of infants receiving static touch. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that CTs signal the affective quality of nurturing touch, providing a neurobiological substrate for the apparent beneficial effects of neonatal tactile interventions and offering insight for their optimisation.
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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.