Breastfeeding is good for baby and its developing brain. It encourages better development in vital areas that govern cognitive abilities and in ‘white matter’, which determines how quickly electrical signals zip around the brain.
Children who are exclusively breastfed for at least three months seem to have brains that are developing better, say researchers who examined the brains of 133 children aged from 10 months to four years with an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine.
The breastfed babies showed greater development even than those whose breastfeeding was supplemented with formula. Overall, they had around 30 per cent greater white matter growth than babies who were partially breastfed or were fed only with formula. The difference was also apparent in simple tests. The breastfed children also demonstrated better language, visual and motor control skills.
(Source: NeuroImage, 2013; doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.05.090).
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