Frequency of Maternal Touch Predicts Resting Activity and Connectivity of the Developing Social Brain

Massage and touch-based therapy : Clinical evidence, neurobiology and applications in older patients with psychiatric symptoms

Background

Massage and touch-based treatment are popular despite limited evidence from high quality clinical trials. This article reviews the rationale and evidence of treating older patients with psychiatric symptoms by touch-based therapy.

Methods

Narrative literature review, based on Medline search with the following key words: massage, social touch, affective touch, clinical trial, meta-analysis. Citations of identified articles were searched for additional relevant studies.

Results

Evidence from clinical trials in adult patients with mainly chronic disorders of the musculoskeletal system suggests that massage therapy results in significant short-term improvement of symptoms; however, treatment effects appear not to be sustained. In addition, conclusions are difficult to draw owing to very heterogeneous study interventions, difficulties with definition of control conditions and treatment outcomes. There appears to be better evidence for improvement of psychological variables and subjective symptoms, such as pain and quality of life. A neuronal system of affective and social touch has been identified with specific afferents from C‑fibre coupled low threshold mechanoreceptors projecting into the insular cortex and the limbic system. This system may also mediate effects of massage in adult patients. Positive clinical trials for depressive symptoms of dementia and for behavioral symptoms of advanced dementia are available with encouraging results.

Conclusion

The neuronal system of social and affective touch suggests a potential mechanism of action of touch-based interventions in geriatric psychiatry. In addition, it provides a rationale for applying and designing novel touch-based treatment strategies as adjunctive treatment for psychiatric disorders of old age.

Barriers and facilitators to mood and confidence in pregnancy and early parenthood during COVID-19 in the UK: mixed-methods synthesis survey

BACKGROUND

Parental well-being during pregnancy and early parenthood is critical for child development. Environmental stressors can significantly challenge parental well-being.

AIMS

To investigate how COVID-19 and associated restrictions influence mood and parenting confidence of expectant parents and those in early parenthood, identifying barriers and facilitators.

METHOD

We used a cross-sectional online survey to collect data from 590 expectant parents and parents of infants (564 women) during the most restrictive phase of lockdown in the UK. We included a mixture of forced-choice and open-ended questions pertaining to mood, perceived social support, media use, online interactions and parenting expectations. Quantitative data were analysed with multiple linear regression and proportional odds models; an inductive thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Quantitative and qualitative data were qualitatively synthesised.

RESULTS

Since COVID-19, expectant parents and parents of new-borns reported a decrease in mood and parenting confidence. Barriers included practical difficulties (finding essentials, reliable health information), social difficulties (loss of physical contact, decreased support) and uncertainty during pregnancy. Facilitators included support from others and, for first-time parents, loss of child care resulting in greater parenting confidence. Although online resources and communication were not preferable to face-to-face interactions, technology was a helpful tool for communicating, getting support, and finding essentials and information during lockdown.

CONCLUSIONS

By mid-May 2020, mood and parenting confidence among expectant and parents of new-borns in the UK were significantly reduced. Consideration of barriers and facilitators in healthcare and psychological support provided is likely important for promoting parental mental health and healthy parent-child relationships.

Intrinsic brain activity associated with eye gaze during mother-child interaction

Mother-child interactions impact child social development and psychological health. This study focused on eye-gaze interactions, especially eye contact as synchronized gaze, which is an important non-verbal communication tool in human interactions. We performed brain-image analysis of mothers and children using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and quantitatively evaluated the quality of mother-child interactions using the Interaction Rating Scale to investigate how it is related to the frequency of mother-child eye contact. As a result, we found a positive correlation between the frequency of eye gaze and the right anterior insula (AI) or middle frontal gyrus in children and a positive correlation with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and precuneus/cuneus in mothers. Especially, when eye contact was made, the association with the right AI in children and ACC in mothers was retained, suggesting the involvement of the salience network responsible for modulating internal and external cognition. In addition, the frequency of eye contact was positively associated with the quality of mother-child interaction. These results suggest that the salience network is a major candidate for the neural basis involved in maintaining efficient eye contact and that it plays an important role in establishing positive mother-child interactions.