ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the critical importance of a parent’s positive touch for a child’s healthy development. It begins by looking at how culture has in many ways lost touch with how important a parent’s touch is to every aspect of their child’s development and how effective it can be for improving an immature sensory system. It then examines some of the newest findings from neuroscience, focusing on the C-tactile fibers that carry affective as well as sensory information to the brain. The chapter goes on to illustrate how touch, of all the senses, provides a unique and direct pathway to the key parts of the brain that play a central role in sensory organization, including building foundational brain circuits, developing a sensory map of the body and providing a critical link to the emotional component of sensory organization.
