Developing Brain Behaviour: The Role of Lipids in Infant Formula

Certain long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are thought to be essential components of the nutrition of infants, including those prematurely born, in the sense that they cannot be synthesises by the immature organism and must therefore be supplied in the diet. Breast milk contains these substances, but many manufactured infant formulae do not.
An absence of dietary LCPUFAs has been thought to affect the development of the brain and retina, possibly leading to abnormalties in cognitive and visual function. Considerable multidisciplinary research has been carried out to investigate this proposition. Diets free from LCPUFAs have been compared with supplemented formulae, or with breast milk.
The conclusions from this research were critically examined by a group of leading paediatricians, nutritionists, experts in visual science and developmental behavioural scientists at a 'Dobbing Workshop' held in the United States in late February, 1997. Each of the Chapters was precirculated to the whole group, commented on before the Workshop, and then exhaustively discussed. The Chapters and Commentaries which are published here have therefore undergone a more extensive peer-review process than is usually the case.

Clinical Studies: A. Lucas, Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Infant Feeding and Cognitive Development. S.E. Carlson, Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation of Preterm Infants. S.M. Innis, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Nutrition in Infants Born at Term. W.C. Heird, Statistically Significant Vs. Biologically Significant Effects of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Growth. Methodology: Clinical Studies: L.T. Singer, Methodological Considerations in Longitudinal Studies of Infant Risk. D.L. Mayer and V. Dobson, Grating Acuity Cards: Validity and Reliability in Studies of Human Visual Development. Behavioural Science Considerations: R.B. Mccall and C.W. Mash, Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and the Measurement and Prediction of Intelligence. J. Colombo, Individual Differences in Infant Cognition: Methods, Measures, And Models. P.E. Wainwright and G.R. Ward, Early Nutrition and Behaviour: A Conceptual Framework for Critical Analysis of Research. C.A. Shaw and J.C. Mceachern, The Effects of Early Diet on Synaptic Function and Behaviour: Pitfalls and Potentials. General Commentary on Behavioural Science Implications and Methodology: Appendices: M.H. Bornstein, Nutrition and Development: Observations and Implications. M. Appelbaum, Design, Measurement, And Statistical Approaches. M. Neuringer and S. Reisbick, General Commentary. Subject Index.