title: Breastfeeding and brain structure in adolescence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate an association between duration of exclusive breastfeeding and structure of cortical regions implicated in general intelligence.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied adolescents (n = 571; aged 12-18 years) participating in the Saguenay Youth Study; half of the participants were exposed to maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to assess whether breastfeeding is an important predictor of cortical thickness when other predictors, such as age, sex, parental education and exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy, are also considered. Target cortical regions were identified using a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of cognitive abilities relevant for general intelligence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that duration of exclusive breastfeeding was associated with cortical thickness in the superior and inferior parietal lobules (t = 2.31, P = 0.02). We also replicated the association between breastfeeding and general intelligence (t = 2.69, P = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, we showed that breastfeeding is associated with variations in the thickness of the parietal cortex in a community-based sample of adolescents. We also found association of breastfeeding duration with full scale and performance IQ, as observed previously.
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Salomi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kafouri
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perron
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pike
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Richer
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Toro
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Veillette
authors.forename: Zdenka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pausova
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Paus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors