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Research Project: Impact of Maternal Influence and Early Dietary Factors on Child Growth, Development, and Metabolic Health

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Title: Impact of diet on the development of hemispheric asymmetry in processing of phonemes in infant brain

Author
item ALATORRE-CRUZ, GRACIELA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item ANDRES, ALINE - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item GU, YUYUAN - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item DOWNS, HEATHER - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item HAGOOD, DARCY - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item WILLIAMS, DAVID - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item LARSON-PRIOR, LINDA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2022
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In the first year of life, infant brain development is characterized by increasing myelination and synaptic connections to instantiate brain networks. Infant nutrition supports this development by providing essential nutrients that promote brain maturity (Deoni et al., 2018). Recent studies have reported that the nutritional composition of human milk promotes better cognition compared to infant formulas (Cheatham & Sheppard, 2015). Therefore, changes in the composition of early diet in infants has the potential to negatively impact brain maturation and language development may be particularly sensitive to that impact (Pivik et al., 2012). Two essential properties of speech comprehension develop over the first year of life: phonemic normalization and categorical perception (Dehaene-Lambertz & Gliga, 2004). Recruitment of frontal and temporal regions responsible for these cognitive processes change with age such that bilateral-brain responses decrease, with greater maturity reflected in left lateralization of function (Piazza et al., 2020). It is also expected that brain electrical activity changes with age: a greater amplitude and shorter latency in the mismatch negativity (MMN-2, difference between deviant and repetitive auditive stimuli, 300-500 ms) has been reported, suggesting faster stimulus awareness as age increases (Morr et al., 2002). In this study, we assessed the MMN-2 component on phonological discrimination between three dietary groups (breastfed (BF), cow's milk based-formula fed (MF), or soy protein based-formula fed (SF)) at 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24-months old to determine the effect of diet on language development.