Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 21, 2026
Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
A Postnatal Diet Containing Phospholipids, Processed to Yield Large, Phospholipid-Coated Lipid Droplets, Affects
Lidewij Schipper1, Gertjan van Dijk2, Laus M Broersen3
1Danone Nutricia Research, Utrecht, Netherlands; lidewij.schipper@danone.com.
Insights
Breastfeeding positively impacts infant cognitive development. A diet mimicking breast milk lipids improved short-term memory and novelty exploration in mice, suggesting lipid structure is key for infant formula development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Nutritional Science
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Breastfeeding, particularly breast milk lipid composition and quality, is linked to enhanced infant cognitive development.
- Formula feeding may not fully replicate the cognitive benefits associated with breastfeeding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the physical properties and composition of milk lipid droplets influence cognitive development.
- To determine the impact of a diet mimicking breast milk lipids on cognitive function in mice.
Main Methods:
- Male C57BL/6JOlaHsd mice were fed either a control or a concept rodent diet (P16-P44) with large, milk phospholipid-coated lipid droplets.
- Cognitive tests were administered during adolescence (P35-P44) and adulthood (P70-P101).
- Brain phospholipid composition was analyzed post-mortem (P102).
Main Results:
- The concept diet significantly improved short-term memory and novelty exploration in both adolescent and adult mice.
- No significant differences in long-term memory performance were observed between diet groups.
- Brain phospholipid composition remained unchanged between the control and concept diet groups.
Conclusions:
- Dietary lipids that mimic the structure and composition of breast milk lipids enhance specific cognitive behaviors in mice.
- Lipid structure is a critical factor for improving dietary lipid quality in infant formulas.
- Further research into lipid structure in infant nutrition is warranted.
Background:
Infant cognitive development can be positively influenced by breastfeeding rather than formula feeding. The composition of breast milk, especially lipid quality, and the duration of breastfeeding have been linked to this effect.
Objective:
We investigated whether the physical properties and composition of lipid droplets in milk may contribute to cognitive development.
Methods:
From postnatal day (P) 16 to P44, healthy male C57BL/6JOlaHsd mice were fed either a control or a concept rodent diet, in which the dietary lipid droplets were large and coated with milk phospholipids, resembling more closely the physical properties and composition of breast milk lipids. Thereafter, all mice were fed an AIN-93M semisynthetic rodent diet. The mice were subjected to various cognitive tests during adolescence (P35-P44) and adulthood (P70-P101). On P102, mice were killed and brain phospholipids were analyzed.
Results:
The concept diet improved performance in short-term memory tasks that rely on novelty exploration during adolescence (T-maze; spontaneous alternation 87% in concept-fed mice compared with 74% in mice fed control diet; P < 0.05) and adulthood (novel object recognition; preference index 0.48 in concept-fed mice compared with 0.05 in control-fed mice; P < 0.05). Cognitive performance in long-term memory tasks, however, was unaffected by diet. Brain phospholipid composition at P102 was not different between diet groups.
Conclusions:
Exposure to a diet with lipids mimicking more closely the structure and composition of lipids in breast milk improved specific cognitive behaviors in mice. These data suggest that lipid structure should be considered as a relevant target to improve dietary lipid quality in infant milk formulas.
