View in EDS

Effects of Early Infant Nutrition on Aperiodic Exponent From 2 to 12 Months Using EEG Analysis.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Effects of Early Infant Nutrition on Aperiodic Exponent From 2 to 12 Months Using EEG Analysis.
Authors: Gilbreath, Dylan (AUTHOR), Andrews, Adam (AUTHOR), Hagood, Darcy (AUTHOR), Andres, Aline (AUTHOR), Larson‐Prior, Linda J. (AUTHOR)
Source: Psychophysiology. Feb2026, Vol. 63 Issue 2, p1-11. 11p.
Subjects: Infant nutrition, Neural development, Power law (Mathematics), Milk substitutes, Electrophysiology, Breastfeeding, Cognitive development
Abstract: Neural development begins in gestation and rapidly accelerates throughout early life. The environmental effect of infant diet is a subject of increasing study as it is the basic nutritive sources which support biological processes essential for healthy development. Previous research in our group has found small but significant effects of nutrition on early cognitive developmental tests between children primarily fed human milk (BF), soy‐based formula (SF), and dairy‐based formula (MF) for the first 12 months of life. This investigation uses this same data set: a study throughout infancy from 2 to 12 months of life. This study seeks to compare brain maturation using EEG aperiodic exponent between infants who received breast milk feeding and those who received a dairy‐based or soy formula. High‐density electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were taken at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 12 months of age using a 5‐min silent video baseline. Using Specparam (formerly fitting oscillations and one‐over‐F or "FOOOF"), aperiodic activity was computed through a power spectral density (PSD) analysis for each session, which were then averaged per dietary group over left, right, and medial frontal and parietal regions of interest (ROIs) and one occipital ROI. Aperiodic exponent is a potential marker of neuromaturation, as it is hypothesized to relate to excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance and structural development in GABAergic systems. We used generalized estimating equations in order to evaluate differences in aperiodic exponent across dietary grouping as well as across age. Consistent with some previous findings, aperiodic exponent was found to decrease with age; however, no significant associations were found with infant diet except at 3 months of age in which BF infants had a larger aperiodic exponent than formula fed (FF) infants. Our research addresses the gap in understanding how aperiodic activity develops and changes throughout the first year of life. There are currently conflicting reports of whether the slope of the brain's aperiodic activity (the exponent) increases or decreases throughout normative infant development, and our research lends support to the idea that the exponent decreases. In addition, this is the first study to examine early nutrition's effect on aperiodic activity in infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Psychophysiology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Description
Abstract:Neural development begins in gestation and rapidly accelerates throughout early life. The environmental effect of infant diet is a subject of increasing study as it is the basic nutritive sources which support biological processes essential for healthy development. Previous research in our group has found small but significant effects of nutrition on early cognitive developmental tests between children primarily fed human milk (BF), soy‐based formula (SF), and dairy‐based formula (MF) for the first 12 months of life. This investigation uses this same data set: a study throughout infancy from 2 to 12 months of life. This study seeks to compare brain maturation using EEG aperiodic exponent between infants who received breast milk feeding and those who received a dairy‐based or soy formula. High‐density electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were taken at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 12 months of age using a 5‐min silent video baseline. Using Specparam (formerly fitting oscillations and one‐over‐F or "FOOOF"), aperiodic activity was computed through a power spectral density (PSD) analysis for each session, which were then averaged per dietary group over left, right, and medial frontal and parietal regions of interest (ROIs) and one occipital ROI. Aperiodic exponent is a potential marker of neuromaturation, as it is hypothesized to relate to excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance and structural development in GABAergic systems. We used generalized estimating equations in order to evaluate differences in aperiodic exponent across dietary grouping as well as across age. Consistent with some previous findings, aperiodic exponent was found to decrease with age; however, no significant associations were found with infant diet except at 3 months of age in which BF infants had a larger aperiodic exponent than formula fed (FF) infants. Our research addresses the gap in understanding how aperiodic activity develops and changes throughout the first year of life. There are currently conflicting reports of whether the slope of the brain's aperiodic activity (the exponent) increases or decreases throughout normative infant development, and our research lends support to the idea that the exponent decreases. In addition, this is the first study to examine early nutrition's effect on aperiodic activity in infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00485772
DOI:10.1111/psyp.70247