Breastfeeding boosts babies' brain growth

Breastfeeding improves brain development in infants, 

according to a new study.

Breastfeeding alone produced better brain development 

than a combination of breastfeeding and formula, which 

produced better development than formula alone, the study 

found.

Researchers used specialised, baby-friendly magnetic 

resonance imaging (MRI) to look at the brain growth in a 

sample of children under the age of 4.

The research found that by age 2, babies who had been 

breastfed exclusively for at least three months had enhanced 

development in key parts of the brain compared to children 

who were fed formula exclusively or who were fed a 

combination of formula and breast-milk.

The extra growth was most pronounced in parts of the brain 

associated with language, emotional function, and 

cognition, the research showed.

Behavioural studies have previously associated 

breastfeeding with better cognitive outcomes in older 

adolescents and adults.

However, this is the first imaging study that looked for 

differences associated with breastfeeding in the brains of 

very young and healthy children, said the study's lead 

author.

"We wanted to see how early these changes in brain 

development actually occur. We show that they're there 

almost right off the bat,"  said the author.

Researchers used quiet MRI machines that image babies' 

brains as they sleep. The MRI technique the researcher has 

developed looks at the micro-structure of the brain's white 

matter, the tissue that contains long nerve fibres and helps 

different parts of the brain communicate with each other.

Specifically, the technique looks for amounts of Melina, the 

fatty material that insulates nerve fibres and speeds 

electrical signals as they zip around the brain.

The team looked at 133 babies ranging in ages from 10 

months to four years. All of the babies had normal gestation 

times, and all came from families with similar socio-

economic statuses.

The researchers split the babies into three groups: those 

whose mothers reported they exclusively breastfed for at 

least three months, those fed a combination of breast-milk 

and formula, and those fed formula alone.

The study showed that the exclusively breastfed group had 

the fastest growth in myelinated white matter of the three 

groups, with the increase in white matter volume becoming 

substantial by age 2.

The group fed both breast-milk and formula had more 

growth than the exclusively formula-fed group, but less than 

the breast-milk-only group.

"We're finding the difference [in white matter growth] is on 

the order of 20 to 30 per cent, comparing the breastfed and 

the non-breastfed kids. I think it's astounding that you could 

have that much difference so early," said the researcher.