Neuroscience has shown that human touch is necessary for human development, lack of it not only damages individuals but the whole of society. To touch the infant, hold it and carry it against your body stops the stress hormone cortisol from being released and producing a toxic brain environment.
Sensory deprivation produces behavioral abnormalities
“Love and touch are a part of human health, they also nourish the body, mind and soul, not just fresh air, sunshine, healthy food and liquids, “according to James Prescott PhD, of the Institute of Humanist Science. “Mother’s or the father’s arms have always been baby’s bed, breakfast, transportation and also entertainment,” says Sharon Heller, the Development Psychologist who wrote, Vital Touch: How Intimate Contact With Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development.
Synaptic connections in the brain continue to proliferate for the first two years of a baby’s life
The brain is going through massive growth of neural connections and at the age of two is when this peak happens. At this time the most important thing for the infant is survival and instinctive healthy, loving touch. Mammals lick their newborns vigorously after they are born to invigorate the nerve system through the nerve endings. Without it vital rhythms-sleep function, heart rhythm, breathing, immune function, and hormone function collapse. The nerve endings cannot be stimulated until after birth due to the watery environment of the womb. The limbic system operates as a steady piston.
The neural system is growing and every changing for an infant, and the loving touch is guidance for the immature system
This guidance also instructs brain development. It determines the ultimate nature of the child’s mind. Humans are not stable on their own but require others to survive. The human nervous system, is a web, a silent rhythm, that regulates our physiology. It is a reminder of this rhythm each time a child or infant is sad angry or scared and it is a loving embrace that changes the whole mood of the little being.
