Stunting, or linear growth faltering, has a global prevalence of around 150 million children and substantially affects cognitive and economic outcomes. In the initial phases of their lives, newborns are exposed to several stressors, including insufficient nourishment, compromised health, and limited opportunities for recreation and social education. These pressures can lead to deficits in vitamins. Stunting has been linked to reduced problem-solving abilities and lower academic performance in childhood.
This can be partially explained by the cognitive processes that support visual working memory (VWM), which helps process information associated with objects seen during a task. However, the specific mechanisms that elucidate the relationship between stunting and verbal working memory (VWM) are unknown.
Our study uncovered that the proportion of children experiencing impaired physical growth significantly predicted cognitive capabilities.
The present study utilized a multi-method approach to investigate the impact of risk factors at the individual level on cognitive ability and brain function during the process of growth and development. We conducted a study utilizing a longitudinal cohort to compare the Bayley-III scores of children who experienced stunted growth with those of malnourished children who had average height at the age of 2. We comprehensively analyzed many cognitive domains, such as motor capabilities, linguistic proficiency, adaptive behavior, and cognition. In addition, we evaluated brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and real-time electroencephalography (RT-EEG).
Our study uncovered that the proportion of children experiencing impaired physical growth significantly predicted cognitive capabilities, even after considering variables such as dietary intake and home wealth. This discovery provides evidence that impaired physical growth, particularly in early childhood, hurts cognitive development, which persists and affects children as they enter school.
Encompassing behavioral observations and neuroimaging techniques on infants who were 6 and 9 months old.
We did additional research to investigate the neural circuits that link stunting with the processing of visual working memory (VWM) and problem-solving skills. This entailed administering a sequence of assessments encompassing behavioral observations and neuroimaging techniques on infants who were 6 and 9 months old.
Infants underwent a Visual Working Memory (VWM) test where the position of an object on the screen changed from one trial to another. The dimensions of the squares on each side and the placement of the variable element in the display were modified. In a unique experiment, we investigated the activity of the left anterior intraparietal sulcus (laIPS) during the task.
An overall impact and combined effect of HAZ, load, and chromophore were observed in the superior laIPS cluster (blue cluster on the brain picture). Infants of average height had a pattern of involvement in the laIPS that was influenced by the amount of cognitive stress, with activation decreasing as the working memory load increased.
Findings suggest that disruptions in these brain circuits can affect the relationship between stunting and cognitive functioning.
The observed activation pattern was accompanied by reduced activity in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ), a region known to divert attention away from ongoing task-related activities.
However, infants with stunted development showed a more robust response to the unchanging side of the presentation, along with increased activation in the laIPS area. This was accompanied by reduced rTPJ suppression, which was also associated with poor CP scores. In addition, our investigation uncovered a detrimental relationship between HAZ (height-for-age z-score) and global functional connectivity (FC) in the theta and beta frequency ranges at 36 months of age. These findings indicate a lag in neural tissue development in these particular areas of the brain.
These findings suggest that disruptions in these brain circuits can affect the relationship between stunting and cognitive functioning. This study highlights the significance of discovering and implementing interventions that particularly target early childhood development decline to improve future mental health and economic results.
