Neonatal face-to-face interactions promote later social behaviour in infant rhesus monkeys.
In primates, including humans, mothers engage in face-to-face interactions with their infants, with frequencies varying both within and across species. However, the impact of this variation in face-to-face interactions on infant social development is unclear. Here we report that infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta) who engaged in more neonatal face-to-face interactions with mothers have increased social interactions at 2 and 5 months. In a controlled experiment, we show that this effect is not due to physical contact alone: monkeys randomly assigned to receive additional neonatal face-to-face interactions (mutual gaze and intermittent lip-smacking) with human caregivers display increased social interest at 2 months, compared with monkeys who received only additional handling. These studies suggest that face-to-face interactions from birth promote young primate social interest and competency.
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.
Amanda M
0000-0003-1360-3567
AM
Dettmer
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.|Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA.
Stefano S K
SS
Kaburu
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.|Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, USA.
Elizabeth A
EA
Simpson
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.
Annika
A
Paukner
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.|Winnicott Research Unit, University of Reading, Reading RG 6AL, UK.
Valentina
V
Sclafani
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.
Kristen L
KL
Byers
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.
Ashley M
AM
Murphy
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.|Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Michelle
M
Miller
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.|Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98121, USA.
Neal
N
Marquez
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.|Clinical and School Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA.
Grace M
GM
Miller
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, Maryland 20837, USA.
Stephen J
SJ
Suomi
Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy.
Pier F
PF
Ferrari
D000367:Age Factors; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000254:growth & development / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior