Affective touch enhances low gamma activity during hand proprioceptive perception in children with different neurodevelopmental conditions.

IF 2.4 3区医学 Q3 NEUROSCIENCES

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Pub Date : 2025-02-11 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fnhum.2025.1538428

Álvaro Sabater-Gárriz, José Antonio Mingorance, Francesc Mestre-Sansó, Vicent Canals, Yannick Bleyenheuft, Pedro Montoya, Inmaculada Riquelme

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Gamma wave activity in the sensorimotor cortex is a critical neural mechanism associated with proprioceptive processing, which is essential for motor coordination, balance, and spatial orientation. The modulation of gamma oscillations by different types of tactile stimuli, including affective touch, is not well understood, particularly in children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorder.

Aims: This study aims to explore how affective touch influences gamma oscillatory activity and proprioceptive performance in children with typical development, cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorders.

Methods and procedures: EEG data were recorded from participants during passive wrist mobilizations under three conditions: following an affective touch stimulus, after a non-affective touch stimulus, and with no tactile stimulation. Time-frequency analysis of low gamma activity (30-45 Hz) on the left somatosensory cortex was conducted for each condition. Proprioceptive performance was assessed through participants' accuracy in identifying wrist positions. Proprioception and pleasantness of affective and non-affective touch were also assessed.

Results: Affective touch increased proprioceptive gamma power density. Children with cerebral palsy had poorer proprioception and higher brain gamma power density for processing movement than children with typical development or autism, and their proprioception worsened with non-affective touch.

Conclusion and implications: These findings highlight the potential of affective touch to modulate gamma oscillatory activity and enhance proprioceptive function, particularly in children with cerebral palsy. The results underscore the importance of incorporating emotionally meaningful sensory inputs in therapeutic interventions to support proprioceptive and motor function in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

6.90%

发文量

830

审稿时长

2-4 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Human Neuroscience is a first-tier electronic journal devoted to understanding the brain mechanisms supporting cognitive and social behavior in humans, and how these mechanisms might be altered in disease states. The last 25 years have seen an explosive growth in both the methods and the theoretical constructs available to study the human brain. Advances in electrophysiological, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, psychophysical, neuropharmacological and computational approaches have provided key insights into the mechanisms of a broad range of human behaviors in both health and disease. Work in human neuroscience ranges from the cognitive domain, including areas such as memory, attention, language and perception to the social domain, with this last subject addressing topics, such as interpersonal interactions, social discourse and emotional regulation. How these processes unfold during development, mature in adulthood and often decline in aging, and how they are altered in a host of developmental, neurological and psychiatric disorders, has become increasingly amenable to human neuroscience research approaches. Work in human neuroscience has influenced many areas of inquiry ranging from social and cognitive psychology to economics, law and public policy. Accordingly, our journal will provide a forum for human research spanning all areas of human cognitive, social, developmental and translational neuroscience using any research approach.