PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Does breastfeeding alter early brain development? The prevailing consensus from large epidemiological studies posits that early exclusive breastfeeding is associated with improved measures of IQ and cognitive functioning in later childhood and adolescence. Prior morphometric brain imaging studies support these findings, revealing increased white matter and sub-cortical gray matter volume, and parietal lobe cortical thickness, associated with IQ, in adolescents who were breastfed as infants compared to those who were exclusively formula-fed. Yet it remains unknown when these structural differences first manifest and when developmental differences that predict later performance improvements can be detected. In this study, we used quiet magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to compare measures of white matter microstructure (mcDESPOT measures of myelin water fraction) in 133 healthy children from 10 months through 4 years of age, who were either exclusively breastfed a minimum of 3 months; exclusively formula-fed; or received a mixture of breast milk and formula. We also examined the relationship between breastfeeding duration and white matter microstructure. Breastfed children exhibited increased white matter development in later maturing frontal and association brain regions. Positive relationships between white matter microstructure and breastfeeding duration are also exhibited in several brain regions, that are anatomically consistent with observed improvements in cognitive and behavioral performance measures. While the mechanisms underlying these structural differences remains unclear, our findings provide new insight into the earliest developmental advantages associated with breastfeeding, and support the hypothesis that breast milk constituents promote healthy neural growth and white matter development.
摘要：
母乳喂养会改变早期大脑发育吗？大型流行病学研究的普遍共识认为，早期纯母乳喂养与儿童后期和青春期智商和认知功能的改善有关。先前的脑形态成像研究支持这些发现，显示白质和皮质下灰质体积增加，顶叶皮质厚度,与智商相关，与纯配方奶喂养的青少年相比，在婴儿时期母乳喂养的青少年中。然而，尚不清楚这些结构差异何时首次显现，以及何时可以检测到预测后期性能改善的发育差异。在这项研究中,我们使用安静的磁共振成像（MRI）扫描比较了133名10个月至4岁的健康儿童的白质微结构测量（髓鞘水分数的mcDESPOT测量），他们要么完全母乳喂养至少3个月；完全配方喂养；或接受母乳和配方奶的混合物。我们还研究了母乳喂养持续时间与白质微结构之间的关系。母乳喂养的儿童在后来成熟的额叶和关联大脑区域表现出白质发育增加。白质微观结构和母乳喂养持续时间之间的正相关关系也表现在几个大脑区域，在解剖学上与观察到的认知和行为表现指标的改善是一致的。虽然这些结构差异的潜在机制仍不清楚，我们的发现为母乳喂养相关的最早发展优势提供了新的见解，并支持母乳成分促进健康神经生长和白质发育的假说。
