Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Mother's milk programs offspring's cognition

Nature Neuroscience volume 17, pages 8–9 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

A study finds that immune factors transmitted through breast milk regulate the cognitive function of offspring. Changes in milk composition alter hippocampal development and have effects on memory that last into adulthood.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Maternal TNFα deficiency enhances offspring spatial memory.

Katie Vicari

References

  1. Field, C.J. J. Nutr. 135, 1–4 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Liu, B. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 17, 97–105 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. McCoy, M.K. & Tansey, M.G. J. Neuroinflammation 5, 45 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Beattie, E.C. et al. Science 295, 2282–2285 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Pribiag, H. & Stellwagen, D. J. Neurosci. 33, 15879–15893 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Golan, H., Levav, T., Mendelsohn, A. & Huleihel, M. Cereb. Cortex 14, 97–105 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Yamada, K. et al. J. Neuroimmunol. 111, 131–138 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Squire, L.R. Psychol. Rev. 99, 195–231 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Gage, F.H. Science 287, 1433–1438 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Deng, W., Aimone, J.B. & Gage, F.H. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 11, 339–350 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Genetics, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, USA

    Sarah L Parylak, Wei Deng & Fred H Gage

Authors
  1. Sarah L Parylak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wei Deng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fred H Gage
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fred H Gage.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Parylak, S., Deng, W. & Gage, F. Mother's milk programs offspring's cognition. Nat Neurosci 17, 8–9 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3611

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3611

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing