November 27, 2017

The simple act of touching infants, as well as the lack of touch, can have lasting effects on their genes expression.

Distressed infants who received less physical comfort from their caregivers were found to have a had a molecular profile in their cells that was underdeveloped for their age. And the effect of the amount of touch an infant receives by caregivers in early life is detectable four years later, according to new research from the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute.

This is first study to show in humans that the simple act of touching, early in life, has deeply-rooted and potentially lifelong consequences on the epigenome — biochemical changes that affect gene expression.

Researchers asked parents of 5-week-old babies to keep a diary of their infants’ behavior (such as sleeping, fussing, crying or feeding) as well as the duration of caregiving that involved bodily contact. When the children were about 4 ½ years old, their DNA was sampled by swabbing the inside of their cheeks.

The children who experienced higher distress and received relatively little contact had an “epigenetic age” that was lower than would be expected, given their actual age. A discrepancy between epigenetic age and chronological age has been linked to poor health in some recent studies.

“In children, we think slower epigenetic aging could reflect less favorable developmental progress,” said Michael Kobor, a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics who leads the “Healthy Starts” theme at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute.

“We plan to follow up on whether the ‘biological immaturity’ we saw in these children carries broad implications for their health, especially their psychological development,” adds lead author Sarah Moore, a postdoctoral fellow. “If further research confirms this initial finding, it will underscore the importance of providing physical contact, especially for distressed infants.”

While many Savvy Aunties have an urge to hold and snuggle with our infant nieces and nephews, this new research shows just how vital those snuggles are to their development. So go ahead, snuggle that infant niece or nephew of yours one more time before you have to leave. Their genes won't forget it.


Photo: Natalia Deriabina
Content provided by UBC Faculty of Medicine was edited and modified.