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Diet and gender are important factors modulating low frequency EEG activity during processing of language sounds in 3 month old infants
Author(s) -
Pivik R T,
Andres A,
Badger T M
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.211.4
Subject(s) - audiology , electroencephalography , developmental psychology , analysis of variance , syllable , oddball paradigm , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , brain function , medicine , event related potential , neuroscience , speech recognition , computer science , psychotherapist
Little is known about how early postnatal diet affects brain processes related to cognitive function in healthy infants. To address this question we examined EEG activity recorded from 3 month old infants [breastfed (BF: n = 104, 55 males), milk‐based formula fed (MF: n = 114, 57 males) or soy formula fed (SF: n = 108, 55 males)] as they were being presented two syllables (oddball paradigm). Time‐frequency analyses were conducted on EEG (.5–12 Hz in 2 Hz bands) recorded over temporal brain regions during the first 250 msec following syllable presentation. Data were analyzed using ANOVAs and post‐hoc t‐tests. Group differences in post‐stimulus power [BF > MF (across bands, all p ≤ .05); BF > SF (10–12 Hz, p < .05) largely reflected gender influences, i.e., Males: BF > MF, all bands, p ≤ .05; SF > MF, .5–6 Hz, p ≤ .05); BF > SF,10–12 Hz, p ≤ .05; Females: all across‐group and frequency comparisons of response power were non‐significant. Only MF infants showed gender differences in power (females > males: 4 Hz and above, all p ≤ .05). These findings show that: early infant diets differentially influence the development of EEG neural networks engaged during initial acoustic and phonemic evaluation of language sounds; these networks are least‐well developed in MF males; among males in formula groups, network development was greater in SF than MF infants; and, no diet effects were observed in females. (USDA CRIS 6251‐51000‐002‐00D)