Observational studyEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2021
The impact of parental contact upon cortical noxious-related activity in human neonates.
Observational study in European journal of pain (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Non-pharmacological management of infant and young child procedural pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The Effect of Mother's Gentle Human Touch on Preterm Neonate's Pain and Maternal Anxiety During Venipuncture in Turkiye.Research in nursing & health · 2025Trial
- 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
- Electroencephalography during acute painful procedures in neonates: a scoping review.Pain reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Decoding of pain during heel lancing in human neonates with EEG signal and machine learning approach.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- "Preparation Is Key": Parents' and Nurses' Perceptions of Combined Parent-Delivered Pain Management in Neonatal Care.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Parent-led neonatal pain management-a narrative review and update of research and practices.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Article
- Assessment and Management of Pain in Preterm Infants: A Practice Update.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Tactile sensitivity and motor coordination in infancy: Effect of age, prior surgery, anaesthesia & critical illness.PloS one · 2022Article
- Maternal speech decreases pain scores and increases oxytocin levels in preterm infants during painful procedures.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Can Event-Related Potentials Evoked by Heel Lance Assess Pain Processing in Neonates? A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Psychosocial and Neurobiological Vulnerabilities of the Hospitalized Preterm Infant and Relevant Non-pharmacological Pain Mitigation Strategies.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Review
- The impact of parental contact upon cortical noxious-related activity in human neonates.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2021Observational
- State of the Art in Parent-Delivered Pain-Relieving Interventions in Neonatal Care: A Scoping Review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNeonates display strong behavioural, physiological and cortical responses to tissue-damaging procedures. Parental contact can successfully regulate general behavioural and physiological reactivity of the infant, but it is not known whether it can influence noxious-related activity in the brain. Brain activity is highly dependent upon maternal presence in animal models, and therefore this could be an important contextual factor in human infant pain-related brain activity.
methodsGlobal topographic analysis was used to identify the presence and inter-group differences in noxious-related activity in three separate parental contexts. EEG was recorded during a clinically required heel lance in three age and sex-matched groups of neonates (a) while held by a parent in skin-to-skin (n = 9), (b) while held by a parent with clothing (n = 9) or (c) not held at all, but in individualized care (n = 9).
resultsThe lance elicited a sequence of 4-5 event-related potentials (ERPs), including the noxious ERP (nERP), which was smallest for infants held skin-to-skin and largest for infants held with clothing (p=0.016). The nERP was then followed by additional and divergent long-latency ERPs (> 750 ms post-lance), not previously described, in each of the groups, suggesting the engagement of different higher level cortical processes depending on parental contact.
conclusionsThese results show the importance of considering contextual factors in determining infant brain activity and reveal the powerful influence of parental contact upon noxious-related activity across the developing human brain. SIGNIFICANCE: This observational study found that the way in which the neonatal brain processes a noxious stimulus is altered by the type of contact the infant has with their mother. Specifically, being held in skin-to-skin reduces the magnitude of noxious-related cortical activity. This work has also shown that different neural mechanisms are engaged depending on the mother/infant context, suggesting maternal contact can change how a baby's brain processes a noxious stimulus.
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Registered trials
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