Introducing the brain: human milk grows infant brain (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 20:43 (193 days ago) @ David Turell

Latest study:

https://www.the-scientist.com/news/myo-inositol-in-human-breast-milk-improves-brain-con...

"Researchers find that the sugar myo-inositol is abundant early in lactation and increases synapse size and abundance in the developing brain.

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"Biederer became interested in the effect of diet on postnatal brain connectivity because researchers reported that breastfed infants performed better in intelligence tests later in life. These results suggested that diet influences infant brain development, but it was unknown which micronutrients and bioactive compounds within breast milk were responsible for this effect. In an earlier study, Biederer’s group determined that an omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), that is present in breast milk improves synaptic connectivity and information processing in the maturing cortex.

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"The researchers looked for micronutrients that changed in abundance over the course of lactation and that were independent of race or diet, as this conservation would suggest that these components are functionally important. They found that the carbocyclic sugar myo-inositol was abundant during early lactation when the infant’s brain is rapidly forming new synaptic connections but decreased in concentration over the course of lactation.

"The researchers tested if myo-inositol could affect brain connectivity by exposing primary human glutamatergic and rat neuronal cultures to the bioactive compound and immunostaining the synapses’ presynaptic and postsynaptic sites. They found that myo-inositol increased the size and abundance of postsynaptic sites. Because scientists have correlated synaptic size with transmission strength,7 this indicated that myo-inositol improved neuronal connectivity. Furthermore, the number of areas showing colocalization between presynaptic and postsynaptic markers in rat neuronal cultures rose with increasing myo-inositol concentration, which suggested that this micronutrient promotes synapse formation."

Comment: if looked at from the standpoint of purposeful evolution design helped prepare the baby brain's development. There is no way Darwin theory explains this since the mother is a separate individual from the baby and cannot infer the need for the brain stimulation the milk offers. It is the same issue as adapting a mother' pelvis to a larger brain size.