There is no convincing evidence that zinc supplementation to infants or children results in improved motor or mental development
BACKGROUND Zinc deficiency is a significant public health problem in low- and middle-income countries .
Zinc is essential for the formation and migration of neurons along with the formation of neuronal synapses .
Its deficiency could interfere with the formation of neural pathways and with neurotransmission , thus affecting behavior ( for example , attention , activity , engagement , temperament ) and development ( for example , gross and fine motor skills , social skills ) .
Zinc supplementation provided to infants and children is a possible strategy to improve the mental and motor development of infants and children at high risk of zinc deficiency .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of zinc supplementation compared to placebo on measures of psychomotor development or cognitive function in children .
Dietary boron, brain function, and cognitive performance.
Although the trace element boron has yet to be recognized as an essential nutrient for humans , recent data from animal and human studies suggest that boron may be important for mineral metabolism and membrane function . To investigate further the functional role of boron , brain electrophysiology and cognitive performance were assessed in response to dietary manipulation of boron ( approximately 0.25 versus approximately 3.25 mg boron/2000 kcal/day ) in three studies with healthy older men and women . Within-subject design s were used to assess functional responses in all studies . Spectral analysis of electroencephalographic data showed effects of dietary boron in two of the three studies . When the low boron intake was compared to the high intake , there was a significant ( p < 0.05 ) increase in the proportion of low-frequency activity , and a decrease in the proportion of higher-frequency activity , an effect often observed in response to general malnutrition and heavy metal toxicity . Performance ( e.g. , response time ) on various cognitive and psychomotor tasks also showed an effect of dietary boron . When contrasted with the high boron intake , low dietary boron result ed in significantly poorer performance ( p < 0.05 ) on tasks emphasizing manual dexterity ( studies II and III ) ; eye-h and coordination ( study II ) ; attention ( all studies ) ; perception ( study III ) ; encoding and short-term memory ( all studies ) ; and long-term memory ( study I ) . Collectively , the data from these three studies indicate that boron may play a role in human brain function and cognitive performance , and provide additional evidence that boron is an essential nutrient for humans
There is no convincing evidence that zinc supplementation to infants or children results in improved motor or mental development
BACKGROUND Zinc deficiency is a significant public health problem in low- and middle-income countries .
Zinc is essential for the formation and migration of neurons along with the formation of neuronal synapses .
Its deficiency could interfere with the formation of neural pathways and with neurotransmission , thus affecting behavior ( for example , attention , activity , engagement , temperament ) and development ( for example , gross and fine motor skills , social skills ) .
Zinc supplementation provided to infants and children is a possible strategy to improve the mental and motor development of infants and children at high risk of zinc deficiency .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of zinc supplementation compared to placebo on measures of psychomotor development or cognitive function in children .