Background:

Throughout infancy, the brain evolves alongside emerging cognitive skills and abilities, and in response to environmental influences including early life nutrition. Prior studies comparing breast and formula-feeding suggest differential brain structure, and associated differences in cognitive scores. However, no study has examined longitudinal development of brain structure and cognitive growth in children differentiated by infant feeding choice. We sought to compare longitudinal brain and cognitive growth trajectories in a large, matched sample of children 3 months to 4 years of age.
 

Methods:

Magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired of 88 formula and 62 exclusively breast-fed (for at least 90 days) infants matched for age (p=0.24), gestation (p=0.39), birth weight (p=0.52), gender (p=0.85), parent marital status (p=0.66) and parent education (p=0.9). 231 longitudinal datasets were obtained on the breastfed children, and 221 on the formula-fed children, at ~6 month increments. The Mullen Scales of Early Learning were used to assess overall cognitive, verbal, and non-verbal abilities. Mixed modeling was used to investigate group differences in brain and cognitive development trends.
 

Results:

Different types of infant feeding resulted in overall brain development and some cognitive ability differences across the first 4 years of life, with significant differences in both rate of change and overall measures.
 

Conclusion:

Our longitudinal findings indicate differences in brain and cognitive development associated with infant feeding. They further suggest that they persist into childhood, potentially predicting changes seen in adolescents and adults.