JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, N.I.H., EXTRAMURAL
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Early nutrition influences developmental myelination and cognition in infants and young children.

NeuroImage 2018 September
Throughout early neurodevelopment, myelination helps provide the foundation for brain connectivity and supports the emergence of cognitive and behavioral functioning. Early life nutrition is an important and modifiable factor that can shape myelination and, consequently, cognitive outcomes. Differences in the nutritional composition between human breast and formula milk may help explain the functional and cognitive disparity often observed between exclusively breast versus formula-fed children. However, past cognitive and brain imaging studies comparing breast and formula feeding are often: cross-sectional; performed in older children and adolescents relying on parental recall of infant feeding; and generally treat formula-fed children as a single group despite the variability between formula compositions. Here we address some of these weakness by examining longitudinal trajectories of brain and neurocognitive development in children who were exclusively breastfed versus formula-fed for at least 3 months. We further examine development between children who received different formula compositions. Results reveal significantly improved overall myelination in breastfed children accompanied by increased general, verbal, and non-verbal cognitive abilities compared to children who were exclusively formula-fed. These differences were found to persist into childhood even with groups matched for important socioeconomic and demographic factors. We also find significant developmental differences depending on formula composition received and that, in particular, long-chain fatty acids, iron, choline, sphingomyelin and folic acid are significantly associated with early myelination trajectories. These results add to the consensus that prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding plays an important role in early neurodevelopment and childhood cognitive outcomes.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app