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During the first weeks of pregnancy, developing cells are already laying the foundation for the brain. Iron plays a major role in the organization and shaping of cells during this stage of gestation. Epidemiological studies suggest that mothers with low iron levels during the first trimester of pregnancy have a higher risk of giving birth to a child who develops cognitive impairments like autism, ADHD and learning disabilities.

"We know pregnancy as a critical window for iron-dependent brain development, and current clinical measures may underestimate the long-term impact of prenatal iron deficiency," said Margot Mayer-Proschel, professor of biomedical genetics and neuroscience at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, and lead author of a study published in The Journal of Nutrition.

The Mayer-Proschel team used a nutrition-based mouse model to understand how deficiency in iron during pregnancy leads to long-term functional changes in the brain of offspring.

Researchers fed mice iron-sufficient and iron-deficient diets prior to conception and continued those diets through pregnancy. At birth, all mice received iron-sufficient diets to determine whether known cellular changes could be rescued.

They first found that iron levels normalized in the blood after supplementation, but iron levels were still impaired in the brain, with some regions remaining deficient while other regions accumulated iron above the normal level.

"These effects of tissue-specific changes in the brain went beyond iron," said Mayer-Proschel.

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