provided massage to infants in an
orphanage in Ecuador, and taught the
caretakers how to provide massage after
the study ended.7 They found that the
massaged infants had fewer illnesses
than the control infants, and were
significantly less likely to suffer from
diarrhea—an inconvenience here in the
developed world, for the most part, but
a literal killer of babies in the
developing world.
Jump’s research reinforces what Harlow showed about the importance of touch and contact for healthy infant development. Both of them, in turn, are examples of how our animal relatives
have important insights to share with us,
and are part of the entire grand tapestry
of our knowledge about the material
physical world we find ourselves in. We
are truly all connected, and how we
respond to touch and massage is just
one of the many everyday ways that we
live this connection.
Owens DM, Lumpkin EA. Diversification and specialization of touch receptors in skin. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014 Jun 2;4(6). pii: a013656. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a013656. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24890830, accessed 2 February 2015.
[2]Thor KB, Blais DP, de Groat WC. Behavioral analysis of the postnatal development of micturition in kittens. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1989 Mar 1;46(1):137-44. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2706767, accessed 2 February 2015.
[3]Mank JE, Promislow DE, Avise JC. Phylogenetic perspectives in the evolution of parental care in ray-finned fishes. Evolution. 2005 Jul;59(7):1570-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16153042, accessed 2 February 2015.
[4]http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Harlow/love.htm, accessed 2 February 2015.
[5] http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption/archive/HarlowLIM.htm, accessed 2 February 2015.
[6]St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team. The effects of early social-emotional and relationship experience on the development of young orphanage children. The St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2008;73(3):vii-viii, 1-262, 294-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5834.2008.00483.x. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702123/, accessed 2 February 2015.
[7]Jump VK, Fargo JD, Akers JF. Impact of massage therapy on health outcomes among orphaned infants in Ecuador: results of a randomized clinical trial. Fam Community Health. 2006 Oct-Dec;29(4):314-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16980806, accessed 2 February 2015.
Dr. Ravensara Travillian is the president of the Pacific Northwest College of Allied Health Sciences. She can be contacted at [email protected].
References
1. Owens DM, Lumpkin EA. Diversification and specialization of touch receptors in skin. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014 Jun 2;4(6). pii: a013656. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a013656. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24890830
2. Thor KB, Blais DP, de Groat WC. Behavioral analysis of the postnatal development of micturition in kittens. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1989 Mar 1;46(1):137-44. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2706767
3. Mank JE, Promislow DE, Avise JC. Phylogenetic perspectives in the evolution of parental care in ray-finned fishes. Evolution. 2005 Jul;59(7):1570-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16153042
4. Harlow, Harry. The Nature of Love. American Psychologist. 1958, 13, 673-685. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Harlow/love.htm
5. Harlow, Harry. Love in Infant Monkeys. Scientific American. 1959 Jun; 68, 70, 72-73, 74. http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption/
archive/HarlowLIM.htm
[6]St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team. The effects of early social-emotional and relationship experience on the development of young orphanage children. The St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2008;73(3):vii-viii, 1-262, 294-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5834.2008.00483.x. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702123/, accessed 2 February 2015.
[7]Jump VK, Fargo JD, Akers JF. Impact of massage therapy on health outcomes among orphaned infants in Ecuador: results of a randomized clinical trial. Fam Community Health. 2006 Oct-Dec;29(4):314-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16980806, accessed 2 February 2015.