Refinement of the novel preference paradigm for young pigs

There are many reasons why human infants may rely on infant formula instead of breastmilk. Unfortunately, evidence has demonstrated discrepancies between formula-fed and breastfed infants, with breastfed infants outperforming their formula-fed peers in cognitive development. As such, formula companies are working to enhance their products with the goal of reducing that developmental gap. One of the main components of breastmilk is oligosaccharides, which have been shown to support intestinal, brain, and cognitive development. Infant formulas are typically formulated using bovine milk, which contains lower levels and different forms of oligosaccharides than breastmilk. As such, formula companies are funding research assessing the impact of oligosaccharide supplementation, especially in sialylated form. The pig as a biomedical model has grown more popular in recent years due to the similarities to humans, with the main similarities revolving around neuroanatomy and gastrointestinal physiology. The work in this dissertation set out to determine the impact of sialyllactose supplementation on intestinal, brain, and cognitive development. Additionally, updates were made to the main behavior test used to assess cognitive development in order to reduce data variability and increase paradigm sensitivity. We demonstrated that sialyllactose supplementation is safe and well-tolerated by the growing pig. This work also indicated minor behavioral, physiological, and anatomical differences due to supplementation. Additional work demonstrated that pigs are able to demonstrate recognition memory utilizing proper paradigm hardware and analysis techniques. The results from this work should inform future research of nutritional interventions and provide insight as to best-practices for elucidating cognitive differences in growing pigs.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Neuroscience

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Golden, Rebecca Kirsten

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dilger, Ryan N
• Khan, Naiman
• Schwarb, Hillary
• Antonson, Adrienne

• Behavioral Neuroscience
• Cognitive Development
• Biomedical Model

Statement dc:rights

• © 2024 Rebecca Kirsten Golden

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124202

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124202