University of Manchester researchers are recruiting hundreds of pregnant women in a unique study to find out how important certain fatty acids are in developing their babies’ brains.

Omega 3 and 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which are found in oily fish, nuts and seeds, are crucial to brain development. They help regulate cell metabolism and maintain cell membranes, which are essential in activity of the neurons (nerve cells which transmit messages around the brain).

However while there have been a number of studies demonstrating the importance of certain PUFA known as long-chain PUFA (LCPUFA) in brain development and indicating positive effects on children’s cognitive processes, a clear picture of specific cognitive benefits has not yet been gained. This study will comprehensively examine maternal PUFA intake during pregnancy alongside a range of infant cognitive outcomes, in order to clarify the role of these nutrients on aspects of cognitive development.

Alison Rees, who is heading the study, explained: “We all know that a good diet is important during pregnancy but consistency is needed in this area of research, which we hope our long, three-year study will provide. It will help show what is important and why in both the mother’s and baby’s diet in terms of the child’s cognitive development: that is, their psychological functioning.”

The team plans to recruit at least 200 pregnant women from Greater Manchester to take part in the study.

The women’s nutrition will be examined at different points throughout their pregnancy and while breastfeeding. They will be visited twice by a member of the research team, the first time at four months gestation and the second at eight months gestation. During these visits they will be asked to fill out several questionnaires including a detailed questionnaire about their diet.

Once their baby is born, his or her diet will be monitored as well, along with his/her cognitive development. They will visit the research team at three, nine, 18 and 24 months at the University’s world famous BabyLab. Here they will be tested on their motor skills, learning speed, early reasoning and information processing on the unit’s state-of-the-art specialist equipment.

Dr Sylvain Sirois, who founded the BabyLab, said: “At the BabyLab we study how babies’ learning and cognitive development are linked to their neurological development. Our work thus far has been about refining our understanding of how learning and development change over time. With this project, we bring our research tools to an important practical question: what are the impacts of polyunsaturated fatty acids to cognitive development? Prior work suggests these are extremely important, but findings are somewhat fragmented, using different methods with different age groups. We aim to provide a comprehensive, fine-grained picture by charting the development of babies from the second trimester in utero to their second year of life.

“The mothers who take part in this study stand to benefit a great deal – they will be able to see what is happening to their children and how they are developing in terms of learning, reasoning and so on. Not only will they learn a great deal, they will have a lot of fun in the BabyLab and help future mothers make the best diet choices they can for their children.”

Mead Johnson Nutritionals, a world leader in infant and children’s nutrition, is helping to fund this study.