Research supports link between exclusive breastfeeding and children's IQ

Does breastfeeding alter early brain development?

The prevailing consensus from large epidemiological studies suggests that early exclusive breastfeeding is associated with improved measures of IQ and cognitive functioning in later childhood and adolescence.

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.

However, it remains unknown when these structural differences first manifest and when developmental differences that predict later performance improvements can be detected.

In a recent study ( Breastfeeding and early white matter development: a cross-sectional study. Deoni SC, Dean DC, Piryatinsky I, et al.), MRI scans were used to compare measures of white matter microstructure  in 133 healthy children from 10months through 4years of age, who were either exclusively breastfed a minimum of 3months; exclusively formula-fed; or received a mixture of breast milk and formula.

The study 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.

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