The effect of diet on the development of EEG microstates in healthy infant throughout the first year of life

Authors: GILBREATH, DYLAN - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); HAGOOD, DARCY - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC); ANDRES, ALINE - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); LARSON-PRIOR, LINDA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)

Submitted to: NeuroImage
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/14/2025
Publication Date: 3/24/2025
Citation: Gilbreath, D., Hagood, D., Andres, A., Larson-Prior, L.J. 2025. The effect of diet on the development of EEG microstates in healthy infant throughout the first year of life. NeuroImage. 311(2025). ARticle 121152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121152.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121152

Interpretive Summary: This paper is the first to use non-invasive scalp-recorded electrophysiology (EEG) to determine how global brain network activity changed over the first year of life in infants ages 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age. This was also the largest cohort of healthy infants studied using a method known as microstates that looks at changes in brain network organization over short periods of time. In this paper, we report that brain networks measured by repeating changes in micro-states over time distinctly differ between developmental ages, and show some sex-specific changes that may relate to differences between males and females in the pace of brain development. A focus of this study was to determine whether infants fed exclusively on breast milk, cow's milk formula or soy milk formula for the first 4 months of life differed in their brain microstate development. We report here that there were no statistically significant differences between infant feeding choices, although some subtle differences could be seen in older infants.

Technical Abstract: Electroencephalography (EEG) is used to directly measure neuronal activity and evaluate network dynamics with an excellent temporal resolution. These network dynamics in the form of EEG microstates – distinct yet transiently stable topographies captured at peaks of the global field power – are increasingly used as markers of disease, neurodegeneration, and neurodevelopment. However, few studies have evaluated EEG microstates throughout the first year of life, and currently none have examined the potential effects of infant diet. The current study seeks to investigate whether different diets impact EEG microstates throughout the first year of life. EEGs were collected from approximately 500 healthy infants who were fed a human milk, diary-, or soy-based formula at three, six, nine, and twelve months of age. Microstate classes and temporal characteristics were then calculated for each timepoint and diet. Microstates classes showed a clear developmental trajectory, with duration decreasing with age, and coverage, globally explained variance, and occurrence generally increasing with age. There were relatively few significant differences between infants fed different diets, indicating that diet potentially effects functional neurodevelopment more subtly than previously indicated in the literature. This study adds to the growing body of literature demonstrating that formula feeding does not have clear disadvantages in terms of infant functional neuronal development.