Infant Formula With MFGM Enhances IQ and Brain Development

Breast milk is universally recognized as the most advantageous source of nutrition for babies, yet numerous families encounter medical or logistical difficulties in breastfeeding. In the United States, only 45% of infants maintain exclusive breastfeeding at the age of three months, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.

From antibodies, to the exclusive nutrients, the benefits of breastfeeding are incalculable.

Over many years, scientists have strived to develop a viable supplement or substitute for breast milk in order to provide children with the best possible foundation for healthy growth. Recent research conducted at the University of Kansas has revealed that a complex milk component, which can be incorporated into infant formula, has demonstrated the ability to bestow enduring cognitive advantages, including enhancements in intelligence and executive functioning, in children.

The research by John Colombo, KU Life Span Institute director and investigator, along with colleagues at Mead Johnson Nutrition and in Shanghai, China, adds to the growing scientific support for the importance of ingredients found in milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) in early human development.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Pediatrics, showed that feeding infants formula supplemented with MFGM and lactoferrin for 12 months raised IQ by 5 points at 5 ½ years of age. The effects were most evident in tests of children's speed of processing information and visual-spatial skills. Significant differences were also seen in children's performance on tests of executive function, which are complex skills involving rule learning and inhibition.

The presence of a sugar molecule in human breast milk may play a crucial role in supporting the health of developing and aging brains.

All forms of mammalian milk contain large fat globules that are surrounded by a membrane composed of a variety of nutrients important to human nutrition and brain development, Colombo said. When milk-based infant formula is manufactured, the membrane has typically been removed during processing.

"No one thought much about this membrane," Colombo said, "until chemical analyses showed that it's remarkably complex and full of components that potentially contribute to health and brain development."

The 2023 study was a follow-up to one that Colombo also co-wrote with colleagues in Shanghai, China, published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2019. That study showed that babies who were fed formula with added bovine MFGM and lactoferrin had higher scores on neurodevelopmental tests during the first year and on some aspects of language at 18 months of age.

The global nutrition research community has been looking at MFGM for about a decade, Colombo said. Because the membrane is made up of several different components, it isn't known whether one of the components is responsible for these benefits, or whether the entire package of nutrients acts together to improve brain and behavioral development.

These benefits were seen in children long after the end of formula feeding at 12 months of age.

"This is consistent with the idea that early exposure to these nutritional components contributes to the long-term structure and function of the brain," said Colombo, who has spent much of his career researching the importance of early experience in shaping later development .

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