Mother's Diet Impacts Development of Baby's Brain

January 2, 2016 • Children of mothers whose diet during pregnancy was deficient in the essential nutrient choline have lower performance on cognitive tests. Cognition is rooted in the brain’s cortex, but a direct link between maternal dietary choline levels and cortical development in offspring had not been demonstrated. Experimental evidence of this link, and identification of a physiological mechanism, would greatly enhance our understanding of the importance of proper nutrition during pregnancy.