PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), Department of Physical and Sports Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain; IRyS Research Group, School of Physical Education, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Chile.
PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), Department of Physical and Sports Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain; Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
Neuroimage. 2019 Nov 15;202:116130. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116130. Epub 2019 Aug 26.
Early life factors may influence brain and academic outcomes later in life, especially during childhood. Here we investigate the associations of early life factors (i.e., birth weight, birth length, and breastfeeding) with gray matter volume, adjusted for body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness, and ii) we test whether early-life factor-related differences in gray matter volume are associated with academic performance in overweight/obese children. 96 children with overweight/obesity aged 8-11 years participated. Birth weight, birth length and gestational age were collected from birth records, and breastfeeding practices were asked to parents. T1-weighted images were acquired with a 3.0 T Magnetom Tim Trio system. Academic performance was assessed with the Bateria III Woodcock-Muñoz Tests of Achievement. Whole-brain voxel-wise multiple regressions were used to test the associations of each early life factor with gray matter volume. Higher birth weight and birth length were associated with greater gray matter volume in 9 brain regions including the middle frontal gyrus, rectal gyrus, thalamus, putamen, middle temporal gyrus, lingual gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, calcarine cortex and cerebellum bilaterally (β ranging from 0.361 to 0.539, t ranging from 3.46 to 5.62 and cluster size from 82 to 4478 voxels; p < 0.001); and greater duration of any breastfeeding was associated with greater gray matter volume in 3 regions including the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and rolandic operculum (β ranging from 0.359 to 0.408, t ranging from 4.01 to 4.32 and cluster size from 64 to 171 voxels; p < 0.001). No associations were found for duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Additionally, none of the gray matter regions that were associated with the early life factors were associated with academic performance (all p > 0.05). Our results demonstrate that birth weight, birth length, and breastfeeding are predictive of gray matter volume of numerous brain structures that are involved in higher order cognition and emotion regulation, but how these results relate to measures of academic achievement remain a matter of speculation.
早期生活因素可能会影响以后的大脑和学业表现，尤其是在儿童时期。在这里，我们研究了早期生活因素（即出生体重、出生长度和母乳喂养）与灰质体积的关系，同时调整了体重指数和心肺健康状况，并测试了与早期生活因素相关的灰质体积差异是否与超重/肥胖儿童的学业成绩有关。96 名 8-11 岁超重/肥胖儿童参与了研究。出生体重、出生长度和胎龄从出生记录中收集，母乳喂养情况向父母询问。使用 3.0T Magnetom Tim Trio 系统获取 T1 加权图像。使用 Bateria III Woodcock-Muñoz 成就测试评估学业成绩。全脑体素水平多元回归用于测试每个早期生活因素与灰质体积的关系。较高的出生体重和出生长度与大脑 9 个区域的灰质体积增加有关，包括中额回、直肠回、丘脑、壳核、中颞回、舌回、中枕回、距状皮层和小脑双侧（β值范围为 0.361 至 0.539，t 值范围为 3.46 至 5.62，体素数范围为 82 至 4478；p<0.001）；任何母乳喂养时间的延长都与 3 个区域的灰质体积增加有关，包括双侧额下回和 Rolandic 脑回（β值范围为 0.359 至 0.408，t 值范围为 4.01 至 4.32，体素数范围为 64 至 171；p<0.001）。未发现纯母乳喂养时间与学业成绩之间的关联。此外，与早期生活因素相关的灰质区域均与学业成绩无关（均 p>0.05）。我们的研究结果表明，出生体重、出生长度和母乳喂养是大脑许多结构的灰质体积的预测因子，这些结构涉及更高阶的认知和情绪调节，但这些结果与学业成绩的关系仍有待推测。
