Breastfeeding and brain structure in adolescence

Salomi Kafouri,Tomáš Paus,Roberto Toro,Michael Kramer,Michel Perron,Suzanne Veillette,Gabriel Leonard,Zdenka Pausova,Bruce Pike,Louis Richer

doi:10.1093/ije/dys172

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate an association between duration of exclusive breastfeeding and structure of cortical regions implicated in general intelligence. We studied adolescents (n = 571; aged 12-18 years) participating in the Saguenay Youth Study; half of the participants were exposed to maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to assess whether breastfeeding is an important predictor of cortical thickness when other predictors, such as age, sex, parental education and exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy, are also considered. Target cortical regions were identified using a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of cognitive abilities relevant for general intelligence. We found that duration of exclusive breastfeeding was associated with cortical thickness in the superior and inferior parietal lobules (t = 2.31, P = 0.02). We also replicated the association between breastfeeding and general intelligence (t = 2.69, P = 0.008). In this study, we showed that breastfeeding is associated with variations in the thickness of the parietal cortex in a community-based sample of adolescents. We also found association of breastfeeding duration with full scale and performance IQ, as observed previously.

Highlights

The human brain grows the fastest during the second and third trimester of pregnancy and the first 2 years of post-natal life, reaching 83% of adult values by the end of the second year.1 After birth, the infant’s exclusive source of nutrients is breast milk or formula milk
We assessed cortical thickness in a number of cortical regions identified by a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of cognitive abilities related to general intelligence
The LC-PUFA hypothesis has been proposed as a key explanation for neurodevelopmental benefits of breast milk,61 breast milk consists of many ingredients besides fatty acids

Summary

Introduction

The human brain grows the fastest during the second and third trimester of pregnancy and the first 2 years of post-natal life, reaching 83% of adult values by the end of the second year. After birth, the infant’s exclusive source of nutrients is breast milk or formula milk. Another report from the same group described findings obtained in 76 adolescents born prematurely and assigned randomly, as infants, to a standard-nutrient diet (term formula or un-supplemented banked donor breast milk) vs a high-nutrient diet (formulated to meet the increased macronutrient and micronutrient needs of this population); the high-nutrient diet group had higher volume of the left and right caudate nuclei. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate an association between duration of exclusive breastfeeding and structure of cortical regions implicated in general intelligence

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion