A recent study examined the effects of skin-to-skin care on preterm infants. This nurturing practice, known as kangaroo care, has been linked to significant changes in brain development. Research published in the journal Neurology focused on the infants born at the edge of viability before 23 weeks’ gestation. The study found that those who survived and thrived had received ample amounts of skin-to-skin contact. Neurology’s special report on the study featured this finding of a preterm infant who underwent this practice. The authors emphasized that a lack of nurturing touch during the earliest weeks of life may have potentially adverse effects on neural development. K. E. Travis, a lead author of the report, stated, “Skin-to-skin contact can improve bonding, growth, and cardiorespiratory function and is highly effective in reducing stress.”
In the study, the average infant in this report weighed 2.65 pounds and was 29 weeks old at birth. Each remained hospitalized for approximately 2 months, during which researchers monitored the duration, frequency, and total daily skin-to-skin sessions provided by family members. Families typically visited once a day, with mothers providing 73% of the skin-to-skin contact. When sessions occurred, they lasted 70 minutes, and when spread throughout the hospital, the average duration was 24 minutes per day. Before discharge, most infants had reached a full-term age of about 40 weeks. Brain scans were then conducted to assess the white matter development and neural communication networks. These scans focused on water movement through brain tissue as a marker of neural maturation.
The results revealed a clear pattern: longer cuddle sessions were strongly associated with markers of brain growth in key white matter pathways. Specifically, longer sessions were associated with higher mean diffusivity, which indicates freer water movement in the cingulum. It is an area crucial for attention and emotion regulation, and in the anterior thalamic radiations, which connect areas involved in emotion and memory. Longer sessions were also tied to lower fractional anisotropy in the anterior thalamic radiations, a sign of structural reorganization in developing brain tissue. Similarly, greater daily totals of skin-to-skin contact were associated with beneficial changes in the anterior thalamic radiation. Importantly, these associations remained even after adjusting for confounding factors, including gestational age, socioeconomic status, frequency of family visits, and age at the time of the scan.
These findings suggest that direct physical contact between a parent and their infant does far more than provide comfort: it directly shapes brain development. The growth of white matter, which appears especially responsive to the simple but profound experience of skin-to-skin contact. This growth occurs in brain regions critical for integrating function across different areas, helping the brain operate as a unified system.
This study has limitations, including its single-hospital setting and reliance on medical records. The results underscore the need for further research to explore how early experiences, such as skin-to-skin contact, shape brain development and affect later behavioral outcomes. Overall, the study provides compelling evidence that prolonged, consistent, nurturing touch is a powerful and low-cost intervention to support preterm infants.
Reference: American Academy of Neurology. The power of touch: Skin-to-skin contact linked to preemie brain growth. Press release. Accessed September 26, 2025. The power of touch: Skin-to-skin contact linked to preemie brain growth
