Milk lipid composition and structure: The relevance for infant brain development

The neurocognitive development of infants can be positively associated with breastfeeding exclusivity and duration. Differences in dietary lipid quality between human milk and infant milk formula may contribute to this effect. In this review, we describe some of the known differences between human milk and infant milk formula in lipid quality, including fatty acid composition, complex lipids in the milk fat globule membrane as well as the physical properties of lipids and lipid globules. We describe some of the underlying mechanism by which these aspects of lipid quality are thought to modulate infant brain development such as differences in the supply and/or the bioavailability of lipids, lipid bound components and peripheral organ derived neurodevelopmental signals to the infant brain after ingestion and on longer term.