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Breast-fed infants show enhanced cognition at ages 3 to 7 years (JAMA Pediatr 2013; 167:836), but how breast-feeding affects social behavior is less studied. Because breast milk contains oxytocin, which enhances social bonding, breast-feeding might improve social interaction. To test this theory, researchers conducted studies of gaze to emotional stimuli (happy, angry, fearful faces) in 98 infants aged 7 months, who were categorized as having experienced low or high exclusive breast-feeding (means, 4 and 6 months).
Infants with high levels of breast-feeding gazed longer at happy faces and less at angry faces, but only if they were homozygotes for a specific variant on the CD38 gene that raises the risk for autism (Neurosci Res 2010; 67:181).…