While breastfeeding has been considered a gold standard in infant nutrition, many formula manufacturers have invested time and resources into discovering benefits to cognitive health and behavioral performance through additional ingredients. A recent clinical trial showed promising results on cognitive development for an enriched infant formula designed to mimic breast milk. 
 
“In light of current advances in food technologies, infant formulas are being continuously improved trying to resemble human milk in terms of optimal children’s growth and neurodevelopment,” the researchers said. “Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid enriched formulas have been approved and recommended by international authorities because of their association with visual acuity and cognitive development later in life. However, potential long-term effects of these type of infant formulas on neurodevelopment and behavior are a current matter of discussion.”
 
“There is also an increasing scientific interest in infant formula enriched with milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), a complex membrane structure composed of proteins, enzymes, and lipids found that infants fed with an MFGM-supplemented infant formula showed higher scores in cognitive domains than those fed with a standard formula at 12 months of age,” the researchers continued.
 
In the present clinical trial, which examined 132 infants at 18 months old, researchers found that a formula enriched with MFGM showed better behavioral outcomes compared to a standard formula, and these benefits were significant at 2.5 years of age.
 
The experimental infant formula contained MFGM components, synbiotics found in human breastmilk, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, gangliosides, sialic acid, and nucleotides, with none of these components present in the standard formula. The experimental formula was developed according to the Committee on Nutrition of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition. 
 
Assessments of the children’s behavior and potential psycho-emotional disorders were done using the Child Behavior Checklist, which was filled out by parents or caregivers, and consisted of questions pertaining to “emotionally reactive,” “anxious/depressed,” “somatic complaints,” and “withdrawn” symptom subscales.
 
Some confounders were controlled for, including maternal educational level and IQ, smoking during pregnancy, paternal educational level, place of residence, and more.  
 
“At 2.5 years old, standard formula fed children were classified more frequently as borderline on internalizing problems than breast-fed children. Moreover, experimental formula children less frequently presented clinical pathological affective problems compared to standard formula fed children. Overall, the percentage of experimental formula children who were classified as normal behavior was similar to that of the breast fed children,” the researchers said, noting that the changes in overall behavior score patterns were not present at the 18-month mark.
 
“In summary, our findings show that the bioactive compound-enriched infant formula might have a beneficial effect on behavioral development in early childhood compared to those infants who received a standard infant formula,” the article concluded. “Moreover, results obtained also seem to propose that sociodemographic factors, such as maternal IQ and educational level, play a key role on child behavioral development, supporting a relationship between breastfeeding and psychosocial factors leading to better mental health and fewer behavioral problems in children. Interestingly, there were no major behavioral differences between children who received the experimental formula and those who were breastfed up to 2.5 years of age.”