Association between breastfeeding during infancy and white matter microstructure in early childhood

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Biology
• Pediatrics

Background:

• The relationship between breastfeeding and child brain development requires further clarification, especially considering various influencing factors.
• Existing research has not fully elucidated the specific associations between breastfeeding patterns and white matter microstructure in early childhood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and total breastfeeding duration with brain white matter microstructure in young children.
• To explore potential sex-specific differences in these associations.

Main Methods:

• Study included 85 typically developing children (ages 2.34-6.97 years) with 331 diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) datasets.
• Breastfeeding data (exclusivity at 6 months, total duration) collected via maternal reports at multiple time points.
• Linear regression analyzed associations between breastfeeding variables and fractional anisotropy (FA) in whole brain and specific white matter tracts.

Main Results:

• Breastfeeding exclusivity and duration showed associations with global and regional white matter microstructure.
• These associations remained significant after controlling for perinatal and sociodemographic factors.
• Greater breastfeeding exclusivity correlated with higher FA in females and lower FA in males.

Conclusions:

• Findings indicate sex-specific differences in white matter microstructure associated with breastfeeding.
• These differences may reflect distinct early childhood white matter development trajectories between males and females.
• Breastfeeding may contribute to long-term white matter variations, with effects differing by child's sex.