Henrik Norholt - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Henrik Norholt
Frontiers in psychiatry, May 22, 2024
Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, Dec 17, 2021
Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, Dec 17, 2021
Academic Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatology, 2022
An increasing number of parents engage in extended daily chest-to-chest contact with their full-t... more An increasing number of parents engage in extended daily chest-to-chest contact with their full-term healthy infants for several months after birth as an extension of skin-to-skin contact in the early postpartum period. This practice is commonly known as "babywearing" (BW) and employs various carrying devices. The purpose of this review is to acquaint pediatricians and primary care providers with the numerous studies of physical, behavioral and social effects of BW as well as the different types of infant carriers and safe practices. BW studies demonstrate improved attachment and breastfeeding outcomes and infant sleep organization, as well as reduced maternal postpartum depressive symptoms and infant crying. BW is likely to strengthen paternal caregiving engagement, associated with positive child outcomes. The spread squat position for the hips during BW offers an optimal position for hip development and may prevent some forms of developmental hip dysplasia. BW may reduce the risk of positional plagiocephaly, by decreasing the time infants spend in the supine position while also allowing for spontaneous head movements. BW enables some mothers with short maternity leave to bring their infants to the workplace with limited interference in their tasks. Numerous designs of infant carriers are described along with basic safety precautions. Pediatricians may be key influencers for parents in achieving the positive outcomes described in this review.
Infant Behavior and Development, 2020
We propose that infant carrying is a biological norm for human caregiving, given that human infan... more We propose that infant carrying is a biological norm for human caregiving, given that human infants have evolved a capacity to cling onto an upright caregiver whose body co-evolved to enable offspring carrying. The origins of this mutual adaptation may date back 4 million years, with the emergence of bipedalism, which precluded the infant horizontal and gravity-supported position on the back of a quadrupedal caregiver. We describe infant cooperative reflexes and behaviors, including the carrying-induced calming response and discuss hypotheses for the invention of infant carrier tools. Carrying involves several physiological and behavioral parent-infant co-adaptations that imply it is an evolutionarily conserved strategy. Epigenetic transmission of reproductive behavior through generations affects the development of the offspring, as well as the mental health of the parent. Carrying might have contributed to the evolution of Hominidae, potentially aiding dexterity, handedness, language acquisition, and social interactions. We review the evolutionary milestones and time points where the infant-caregiver interactions might have changed, exploring infant carrying as it intersects with biological and cultural evolution. We briefly summarize the effects of infant carrying on physiological, epigenetic, and socio-emotional outcomes.
DMW - Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift
ZusammenfassungHaut-zu-Haut-Berührung stellt die ursprünglichste Sinneserfahrung von Mensch und T... more ZusammenfassungHaut-zu-Haut-Berührung stellt die ursprünglichste Sinneserfahrung von Mensch und Tier dar. Ein Mangel an Berührung in der Kindheit ist mit negativen Folgen für die psychosoziale und körperliche Gesundheit verbunden. Für die Entdeckung von Rezeptoren für Temperatur und Berührung im Körper wurde 2021 der Medizin-Nobelpreis verliehen. Klinische Studien belegen den Nutzen von professionellen Berührungstechniken zur Prävention und Therapie verschiedener Erkrankungen. Der breiten Anwendung einer professionellen Berührungstherapie gilt jedoch bis heute nur ein geringes klinisches Interesse. Wir schlagen eine neue Fachdisziplin der „Berührungsmedizin“ vor und spannen nachstehend einen Bogen zwischen den Erkenntnissen moderner Berührungsforschung und der klinischen Medizin. Exemplarisch steht dabei die Behandlung der primär als Leibkrankheit konzipierten Depression im Vordergrund. Kontrollierte Studien und systematische Übersichten belegen die antidepressive, anxiolytische sow...
Infant behavior & development, 2020
During the early period of hypothesis building and empirical testing of attachment theory, a majo... more During the early period of hypothesis building and empirical testing of attachment theory, a major emphasis was placed on mother-infant physical contact. In spite of this, mother-infant contact has received scant attention amongst attachment and child development researchers in the past decades. Here, a brief theoretical framework for mother-infant contact is presented, drawing on animal studies as well as human studies of preterm infants and neonates. Salient mechanisms may include an extended sensitive period during early infancy, requiring specific somatosensory stimuli for bio-behavioral homeorhesis; oxytocinergic and epigenetic pathways; kinesthetic stimuli and face-to-face proximity allowing for increased social interaction. Studies of extended human mother-full-term infant physical contact have demonstrated positive effects in multiple domains. For infants, these include sleep organization, temperature and heart rate regulation, behavioral response, crying/colic, socio-emotio...
Oxytocin (OT) is one of the most intensively researched neuropeptides during the three past decad... more Oxytocin (OT) is one of the most intensively researched neuropeptides during the three past decades. In benign social contexts, OT exerts a range of desirable socioemotional, stress-reducing, and immunoregulatory effects in mammals and humans and influences mammalian parenting. Consequentially, research in potential pharmacological applications of OT toward human social deficits/disorders and physical illness has increased substantially. Regrettably, the results from the administration of exogenous OT are still relatively inconclusive. Research in rodent maternal developmental programming has demonstrated the susceptibility of offspring endogenous OT systems to maternal somatosensory stimulation, with consequences for behavioral, epigenetic, cognitive, and neurological outcomes. A translation of this animal research into practically feasible human parenting recommendations has yet to happen, despite the significant prevention potential implied by the maternal developmental programmi...
Frontiers in psychiatry, May 22, 2024
Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, Dec 17, 2021
Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, Dec 17, 2021
Academic Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatology, 2022
An increasing number of parents engage in extended daily chest-to-chest contact with their full-t... more An increasing number of parents engage in extended daily chest-to-chest contact with their full-term healthy infants for several months after birth as an extension of skin-to-skin contact in the early postpartum period. This practice is commonly known as "babywearing" (BW) and employs various carrying devices. The purpose of this review is to acquaint pediatricians and primary care providers with the numerous studies of physical, behavioral and social effects of BW as well as the different types of infant carriers and safe practices. BW studies demonstrate improved attachment and breastfeeding outcomes and infant sleep organization, as well as reduced maternal postpartum depressive symptoms and infant crying. BW is likely to strengthen paternal caregiving engagement, associated with positive child outcomes. The spread squat position for the hips during BW offers an optimal position for hip development and may prevent some forms of developmental hip dysplasia. BW may reduce the risk of positional plagiocephaly, by decreasing the time infants spend in the supine position while also allowing for spontaneous head movements. BW enables some mothers with short maternity leave to bring their infants to the workplace with limited interference in their tasks. Numerous designs of infant carriers are described along with basic safety precautions. Pediatricians may be key influencers for parents in achieving the positive outcomes described in this review.
Infant Behavior and Development, 2020
We propose that infant carrying is a biological norm for human caregiving, given that human infan... more We propose that infant carrying is a biological norm for human caregiving, given that human infants have evolved a capacity to cling onto an upright caregiver whose body co-evolved to enable offspring carrying. The origins of this mutual adaptation may date back 4 million years, with the emergence of bipedalism, which precluded the infant horizontal and gravity-supported position on the back of a quadrupedal caregiver. We describe infant cooperative reflexes and behaviors, including the carrying-induced calming response and discuss hypotheses for the invention of infant carrier tools. Carrying involves several physiological and behavioral parent-infant co-adaptations that imply it is an evolutionarily conserved strategy. Epigenetic transmission of reproductive behavior through generations affects the development of the offspring, as well as the mental health of the parent. Carrying might have contributed to the evolution of Hominidae, potentially aiding dexterity, handedness, language acquisition, and social interactions. We review the evolutionary milestones and time points where the infant-caregiver interactions might have changed, exploring infant carrying as it intersects with biological and cultural evolution. We briefly summarize the effects of infant carrying on physiological, epigenetic, and socio-emotional outcomes.
DMW - Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift
ZusammenfassungHaut-zu-Haut-Berührung stellt die ursprünglichste Sinneserfahrung von Mensch und T... more ZusammenfassungHaut-zu-Haut-Berührung stellt die ursprünglichste Sinneserfahrung von Mensch und Tier dar. Ein Mangel an Berührung in der Kindheit ist mit negativen Folgen für die psychosoziale und körperliche Gesundheit verbunden. Für die Entdeckung von Rezeptoren für Temperatur und Berührung im Körper wurde 2021 der Medizin-Nobelpreis verliehen. Klinische Studien belegen den Nutzen von professionellen Berührungstechniken zur Prävention und Therapie verschiedener Erkrankungen. Der breiten Anwendung einer professionellen Berührungstherapie gilt jedoch bis heute nur ein geringes klinisches Interesse. Wir schlagen eine neue Fachdisziplin der „Berührungsmedizin“ vor und spannen nachstehend einen Bogen zwischen den Erkenntnissen moderner Berührungsforschung und der klinischen Medizin. Exemplarisch steht dabei die Behandlung der primär als Leibkrankheit konzipierten Depression im Vordergrund. Kontrollierte Studien und systematische Übersichten belegen die antidepressive, anxiolytische sow...
Infant behavior & development, 2020
During the early period of hypothesis building and empirical testing of attachment theory, a majo... more During the early period of hypothesis building and empirical testing of attachment theory, a major emphasis was placed on mother-infant physical contact. In spite of this, mother-infant contact has received scant attention amongst attachment and child development researchers in the past decades. Here, a brief theoretical framework for mother-infant contact is presented, drawing on animal studies as well as human studies of preterm infants and neonates. Salient mechanisms may include an extended sensitive period during early infancy, requiring specific somatosensory stimuli for bio-behavioral homeorhesis; oxytocinergic and epigenetic pathways; kinesthetic stimuli and face-to-face proximity allowing for increased social interaction. Studies of extended human mother-full-term infant physical contact have demonstrated positive effects in multiple domains. For infants, these include sleep organization, temperature and heart rate regulation, behavioral response, crying/colic, socio-emotio...
Oxytocin (OT) is one of the most intensively researched neuropeptides during the three past decad... more Oxytocin (OT) is one of the most intensively researched neuropeptides during the three past decades. In benign social contexts, OT exerts a range of desirable socioemotional, stress-reducing, and immunoregulatory effects in mammals and humans and influences mammalian parenting. Consequentially, research in potential pharmacological applications of OT toward human social deficits/disorders and physical illness has increased substantially. Regrettably, the results from the administration of exogenous OT are still relatively inconclusive. Research in rodent maternal developmental programming has demonstrated the susceptibility of offspring endogenous OT systems to maternal somatosensory stimulation, with consequences for behavioral, epigenetic, cognitive, and neurological outcomes. A translation of this animal research into practically feasible human parenting recommendations has yet to happen, despite the significant prevention potential implied by the maternal developmental programmi...