1. Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
School of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London
The Henry Wellcome Building
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX
• Tel: (+44) 20 7631 6258 • E-mail: babylab@bbk.ac.uk • Website: www.cbcd.bbk.ac.uk
Title of Study: NIRS BUZZ
Name of researcher: Laura Pirazzoli, Sarah Lloyd-Fox, Teodora Gliga
Dear Parent,
As you well know already, touch is a very important sense in a baby’s life and it is the first one
to develop. Along with your voice, your touch is what you mostly depend on to interact with
your child throughout infancy. When you want to play, reassure or soothe your baby you will
most likely find yourself doing so through the sense of touch.
We know that touch has positive and long-term effects on mental and physical health, but
what we lack is the understanding of how does it happen.
Here at the BabyLab we are interested in ‘social touch’ (slow gentle caressing). How early does
the infant brain start perceiving this type of touch as different from other tactile stimulation
and how does that affect the infant’s attention and arousal states? These are the questions we
are trying to answer.
If you agree for your child to participate he/she will take part in a study in which he/she will be
stroked with the hand on one arm (social touch) and with a toothbrush (non-social touch) on
the other, while we record the brain activity. The procedure will take about 15 minutes. You or
your child are free to stop the study and withdraw at any time.
THANKS FOR TAKING PART IN OUR STUDIES !