Considerations regarding the impact of Early Stunting on the cognitive and brain function of infants. In addition to being referred to as linear growth failing, the disease known as stunting affects roughly 150 million children worldwide. This condition significantly impacts the affected children’s cognitive and economic outcomes. During the first few years of their life, newborns are exposed to a wide range of situations that have the potential to cause them to suffer from deficiencies in particular nutrients. A lack of play and social development opportunities, inadequate sustenance, and poor health are some factors that fall under this category. It has been demonstrated that stunting is linked to a diminished capacity to find solutions to issues and a poorer level of academic accomplishment during childhood.
A portion of this might be attributed to the cognitive processes that lie beneath the surface, such as visual working memory (VWM), which makes it easier to process information about observed items while one is engaged in a task. On the other hand, the precise mechanisms underpinning the relationship between stunting and VWM are not entirely understood at this time.
This comparison was carried out with the use of a longitudinal cohort.
To investigate how child-level risk factors influence cognitive ability and brain function in childhood, the current study adopted a multi-method approach to investigate the subject matter. The Bayley-III scores of children who were stunted were compared to those of undernourished children of average stature at the age of two. This comparison was carried out with the use of a longitudinal cohort. The comparison was carried out across various cognitive domains, such as motor, language, adaptive behavior, and cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and real-time electroencephalography (RT-EEG) techniques were also utilized to assess the brain’s activity levels.
We found that the percentage of stunted children significantly predicted cognitive performance within the population. This was the case even though we accounted for the amount of nutritional consumption and the income levels of households. The results of this study are consistent with the notion that a decrease in growth throughout the early stages of development, particularly during infancy, hurts cognitive development, and this effect extends into the school years. The findings of this study are in keeping with the theory.
Infants of normal height participated in a laIPS load-dependent manner, characterized by decreasing activation with increasing VWM load.
Through a series of behavioral and neuroimaging tests carried out on infants between the ages of 6 and 9 months, we were able to conduct additional research on the neural pathways in the brain that are associated with VWM processing and the ability to provide solutions to problems.
Infants were required to complete a VWM task, and during each trial, the side of the screen on which an object was exhibited differed from the side on which it was displayed in the previous trial. The amount of squares shown on each side of the display and the position of the element changing within the display were both susceptible to manipulation. At the same time that the task was being carried out, we carried out an additional experiment in which we assessed the activation of the left anterior intraparietal sulcus (laIPS).
The superior laIPS cluster, which is the blue cluster in the brain image, had both a main impact and an interaction effect of HAZ, load, and chromophore. The main effect was found to be the most significant of the three. Infants of normal height participated in a laIPS load-dependent manner, characterized by decreasing activation with increasing VWM load. This exhibited certain characteristics.
Findings suggest that impairments in these brain networks may be the mediators of the connection between stunting and cognitive functioning.
This pattern of activation was accompanied by a suppression of activity in the rTPJ, which is expected to be engaged in bottom-up reorientations of attention away from processes that are relevant to the task that is now being done. This suppression of activity co-occurred with active activation.
On the other hand, the infants who were stunted showed a more effective response to the side of the image that did not change, as seen by the increased activity in laIPS. Furthermore, in conjunction with this, it was noted that there was an insufficient amount of rTPJ suppression, which is also associated with poor CP scores. Additionally, we found that HAZ showed a negative connection with global FC in the theta and beta bands at the age of 36 months. This suggests that neuronal maturation in these brain regions will be delayed even further during this period.
The findings suggest that impairments in these brain networks may be the mediators of the connection between stunting and cognitive functioning. This conclusion is based on the data. These findings highlight the significance of identifying and putting into action treatments that target failing early childhood growth in order to improve future mental health and economic outcomes. These treatments should target children who are still in the early stages of development.
