title: Sex-specific association between infant diet and white matter integrity in 8-y-old children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding, which is well known to promote cognitive and behavioral development. The evidence for why this occurs is not well understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-six 7.5- to 8.5-y-old healthy children were breastfed (BF; n = 22, 10 males) or formula-fed (FF; n = 34, 16 males) as infants. All children were administered: the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scale (RIAS); the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-4) tests; and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measured fractional anisotropy (FA) values were correlated with RIAS and CELF-4 scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DTI tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analyses showed multiple white matter regions in the left hemisphere with significantly higher FA (P < 0.05, corrected) values in BF than FF males, but no significant group differences in females. Males who were exclusively BF for at least 1 y appeared to have the greatest differences in FA. Mean FA values positively correlated with composite scores of RIAS (P = 0.03) and CELF-4 (P = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breastfeeding during infancy was associated with better white matter development at 8 y of age in boys. A similar association was not observed in girls.
authors.affiliation: 1] Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Arkansas [2] Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas [3] Department of Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: Xiawei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: 1] Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Arkansas [2] Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andres
authors.affiliation: 1] Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Arkansas [2] Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: Mario A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cleves
authors.affiliation: 1] Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Arkansas [2] Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Pivik
authors.affiliation: 1] Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Arkansas [2] Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: Jeffrey H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Snow
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Sciences, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Zhaohua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: 1] Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Arkansas [2] Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Badger
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002663:Child Language; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012737:Sex Factors; D066127:White Matter / Q000254:growth & development*