A study finds that children breastfed for longer periods of time have more gray matter in their brains

A research team made up of specialists from the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona and the Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute has determined that children who are breastfed for longer have more gray matter in the brain.

To do this, in the study, published in the scientific journal 'Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry', they have analyzed brain images of nearly 8,000 boys and girls between the ages of nine and 11 to look for a relationship between the duration of breastfeeding and the level of gray matter in the brain during this age.

“We observed that the duration of lactation was associated, in a proportional way, with a greater volume of a certain area of the brain. This region encompasses the inferior frontal gyrus and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex”, says Christian Stephan-Otto, one of the directors of the study, who adds that, in addition, “these greater volumes were associated with lower levels of impulsivity”.

“These findings suggest that breastfeeding may have long-term effects on brain and personality development,” adds Christian Núñez, first author of the article and researcher at the Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau.. “Importantly, these brain regions play a very important role in decision-making and emotion regulation, among other functions.”

Gray matter is the substance in the brain that is responsible for processing sensory information and controlling muscle movements or conscious thought.. “A greater volume of gray matter may be related to better cognitive performance and a better ability to process sensory information,” they point out from Sant Joan de Déu.