Abstract
For clear ethical and medical reasons, consideration of the importance of diet in neurological development in humans is largely limited to describing outcomes following unplanned and uncontrolled nutritional insults. Brain development could be influenced at either macroscopic or microscopic levels through the influence of prenatal factors on neural tube formation or cell migration, and by prenatal, neonatal or subsequent events during childhood or adolescence influencing myelination or synapse formation. Brain circuits that contribute to the regulation of mammalian energy balance are widely distributed. The developed brain monitors physiological and metabolic events in the rest of the body through feedback from peripheral hormones and metabolites, augmented by afferent nerve signalling. There is growing evidence that nutrition during the fetal and neonatal periods influences brain function in later life. Programming mechanisms linking nutritional or other challenges to functional endpoints may involve epigenetic changes and glucocorticoid exposure.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Nutrition and Development |
Subtitle of host publication | Short- and Long-Term Consequences for Health |
Editors | British Nutrition Foundation , Judith L. Buttriss |
Publisher | Wiley |
Chapter | 6 |
Pages | 97-115 |
Number of pages | 19 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781118782972 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781444336788 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 12 Jul 2013 |
Keywords
- Brain energy balance circuits
- Developing brain
- Neurological development
- Nutritional influences
- Nutritional interventions
- Peripheral feedback signals
- Programming mechanisms