Observational studyPloS one2022
The impact of breast milk feeding on early brain development in preterm infants in China: An observational study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review over the Effect of Early Infant Diet on Neurodevelopment: Insights from Neuroimaging.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of breastfeeding and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infant.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Functional brain connectivity from the fetal period through infancy: A narrative review of resting-state fMRI studies.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Review
- Potential of Breast Milk Exosomes in Modulating Infant Developmental Programming: A Multi-Omics Study Based on a Birth Cohort.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Donor human milk and structural brain development in very preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2026Observational
- Effects of Early Infant Nutrition on Aperiodic Exponent From 2 to 12 Months Using EEG Analysis.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- Precision functional neuroimaging reveals individually specific auditory responses in infants.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Precision Functional Neuroimaging Reveals Individually Specific Auditory Responses in Infants.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Multimodality evaluation and ultrasound-guided aspiration of a biopsy-proven inspissated clogged milk duct: a case report.Translational breast cancer research : a journal focusing on translational research in breast cancer · 2025Article
- The effects of breastfeeding duration on children's behavior problems at around 3 years of age.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Personalized Nutrition with Banked Human Milk for Early Gut Microbiota Development: In Pursuit of the Perfect Match.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Patterns of Human Milk Oligosaccharides in Mature Milk Are Associated with Certain Gut Microbiota in Infants.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Effect of breast milk intake volume on early behavioral neurodevelopment of extremely preterm infants.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Article
- Evolution, diversification and function of the maternal-infant dyad in mammalian feeding.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Breastfeeding-Related Health Benefits in Children and Mothers: Vital Organs Perspective.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Mechanisms of Maternal Diet-Induced Obesity Affecting the Offspring Brain and Development of Affective Disorders.Metabolites · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe prevailing consensus from large epidemiological studies is that breastfeeding is associated with improved IQ and cognitive functioning in later childhood and adolescence. Current research is exploring the association between breastfeeding and early brain development in preterm infants.
objectiveTo explore the differences in brain gray matter between breastmilk-fed and formula-fed preterm infants using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging.
methodsA convenience sample of breastmilk-fed preterm infants(n = 34) and formula-fed infants (n = 22) aged approximately 32 weeks. At near term-equivalent age, MR scanning was performed. Gray matter structural and functional differences between the two groups were assessed using MATLAB software for voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) analysis.
resultsMaternal and neonatal demographic characteristics showed no significant difference between the two groups. Breastmilk-fed infants had greater regional gray matter volume on MRI than formula-fed infants in multiple brain regions, including the bilateral frontal lobe (BA11, BA46), right temporal lobe (BA37), and left caudate nucleus, at a statistical threshold of p<0.01 (AlphaSim corrected) with a cluster size of >40 voxels. Compared with formula-fed infants, breastmilk-fed infants showed increased brain activation on fMRI in the right superior temporal gyrus (BA41).
conclusionBreastmilk-fed infants had greater regional gray matter development and increased regional gray matter function compared with formula-fed infants at near term-equivalent age, suggesting breastmilk feeding in the early period after birth may have some degree of influence on early brain development in preterm infants.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.