Open AccessNonlinear age effects in tactile processing from early childhood to adulthood
Author(s) -
Kaur Sakshi,
Espenhahn Svenja,
Bell Tiffany,
Godfrey Kate J.,
Nwaroh Chidera,
Giuffre Adrianna,
Cole Lauran,
Beltrano Winnica,
Yan Tingting,
Stokoe Mehak,
Haynes Logan,
Hou Tasha Yuntao,
Tommerdahl Mark,
Bray Signe,
Harris Ashley D.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
brain and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 41
ISSN - 2162-3279
DOI - 10.1002/brb3.2644
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , early childhood , young adult , sensory processing , autism spectrum disorder , developmental psychology , audiology , autism , cognitive psychology , sensory system , neuroscience , medicine
Background Tactile processing plays a pivotal role in the early stages of human development; however, little is known about tactile function in young children. An understanding of how tactile processing changes with age from early childhood to adulthood is fundamental in understanding altered tactile experiences in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, 142 children and adults aged 3–23 years completed a vibrotactile testing battery consisting of 5 tasks, which rely on different cortical and cognitive mechanisms. The battery was designed to be suitable for testing in young children to investigate how tactile processing changes from early childhood to adulthood. Results Our results suggest a pattern of rapid, age‐related changes in tactile processing toward lower discrimination thresholds (lower discrimination thresholds = greater sensitivity) across early childhood, though we acknowledge limitations with cross‐sectional data. Differences in the rate of change across tasks were observed, with tactile performance reaching adult‐like levels at a younger age on some tasks compared to others. Conclusions While it is known that early childhood is a period of profound development including tactile processing, our data provides evidence for subtle differences in the developmental rate of the various underlying cortical, physical, and cognitive processes. Further, we are the first to show the feasibility of vibrotactile testing in early childhood (<6 years). The results of this work provide estimates of age‐related differences in performance, which could have important implications as a reference for investigating altered tactile processing in developmental disorders.