S. Höhl: Rhythms of communication: How children and caregivers connect

Abstract
Caregiver-child interactions are characterized by interpersonal rhythms at different timescales, from nursery rhymes and interactive games to daily routines. These rhythms make the social environment more predictable for young children and facilitate interpersonal biobehavioral synchrony with their caregivers. In adults, brain oscillations entrain to communicative rhythms, including speech, supporting mutual comprehension and communication. I will present recent evidence that this is also the case in the infant brain, especially when babies are addressed directly by their caregiver through infant-directed speech and singing in naturalistic interactions. Through simultaneous measures of neural and physiological rhythms from caregiver and child during live face-to-face interactions, we can deepen our understanding of early interactional dynamics and their reciprocal nature. I will present our recent research identifying factors supporting the establishment of caregiver-child neural synchrony, such as affectionate touch and vocal turn-taking. I will further discuss the functional links and dissociations between caregiver-child synchrony on the neural, behavioral and physiological levels and how these relate to developmental outcomes. Findings will be integrated in a new Relational Neuroscience framework.

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