“To our knowledge, this provides the first integrated evidence from a RCT linking a composite nutritional intervention to improved specific cognitive function, beneficial gut microbial shifts, and functional metabolic changes in early childhood,” wrote researchers in the journal Nutrients.
However, there was no significant difference in the scores for Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient, which the researchers noted is shaped by sustained environmental factors and therefore may be less susceptible to change in the study’s short intervention period.
On the other hand, the positive changes in Processing Speed Index may reflect the more dynamic changes during rapid development, in which nutritional changes may be more evident.
“Therefore, our results suggest that the nutritional intervention may have preferentially supported the optimization of these underlying, rapidly developing neural processes, rather than inducing a broad-scale shift in integrated cognitive ability within the trial timeframe”, the researchers wrote.
Early brain development
The preschool phase is a critical time for neurocognitive development, which the study noted lays “the foundation for future academic and social adaptation”.
Expansion in the cerebral cortex and myelination in the brain occur during these years, providing the basis for early information processing, and are linked to children’s performance and abilities.
As such, researchers see the pre-school period of brain development as a “pivotal window” for assessing the impact of environmental factors and nutrients.
Nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, play fundamental roles in brain development. However, young children may have inadequate diets or picky eating habits, and studies indicate that over half of preschool children worldwide have micronutrient deficiencies.
The inclusion of probiotics and prebiotics in fortified milk may support children’s brain development through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Still, the researchers noted a scarcity of long-term studies in the preschool age group, particularly those evaluating neurocognitive performance.
Study details
The randomized controlled trial assigned 120 healthy children aged 3 to 6 years to receive either a multi-nutrient fortified formula or standard control milk twice daily at 10am and 3pm for nine months. The fortified milk described by the researchers as “enriched with a specific probiotic blend capable of modulating gut microbiota” contained 50mg Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) per 100g, arachidonic acid (ARA), Bifidobacterium, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), and multiple vitamins and minerals.
The researchers assessed height, weight, and blood and fecal samples at 3-monthly intervals. The primary outcome was the Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ), a series of tests derived from a widely used cognitive assessment. In addition, secondary outcomes were the five core indices within the main test, including the Processing Speed Index (PSI).
The results showed “no significant difference in Full Scale Intelligence Quotient”, but improvements in the fortified milk group in PSI, increased gut microbial alpha diversity, and Bifidobacterium abundance.
Analysis showed a positive association between PSI and the elevation of markers of propionate metabolism and Bifidobacterium.
“Fortified formula milk improved processing speed in preschoolers, a benefit associated with gut ecosystem modulation characterized by Bifidobacterium enrichment and upregulated microbial propanoate metabolism,” the researchers concluded.
“These results offer preliminary evidence for the role of the microbiota–gut–brain axis in nutritional cognitive programming during early childhood.”
Source: Nutrients, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18071167, “Effects of Fortified Formula Milk Supplementation on Neurocognitive Development and the Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis in Preschool Children: A Cluster-Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial.“, Authors: Y. Gong et al.
