妈妈在怀孕期间喜欢吃什么，孩子将来也喜欢吃什么，这是不少人的经验之谈。一项最新研究证实，实验鼠怀孕时的饮食习惯的确会从生理上影响小鼠大脑中相关神经的发育。这项成果提醒女性在怀孕期间需要注意健康饮食，以帮助宝宝形成健康的饮食习惯。
新一期英国《皇家学会学报B》（Proceedings of the Royal Society B）刊登研究报告说，美国科罗拉多大学等机构研究人员给怀孕和哺乳期间的实验鼠提供了不同口味的饮食，其中一组实验鼠的饮食淡而无味，另外两组实验鼠的饮食分别具有较强的樱桃味和薄荷味。研究人员在小鼠断奶时发现，与淡而无味饮食组相比，另外两个饮食组小鼠大脑中处理气味信号的“嗅小球”明显较大，在自己选择食物时，它们表现出与母鼠饮食味道相同的倾向，而那些淡而无味饮食组的小鼠则没有明显偏好。
参与研究的约瑟芬·托德兰克博士解释说，当胎儿在母体子宫内发育时，它会认为母体摄入的所有食物成分都是安全的，并在神经系统中记住食物的味道，作为自己今后寻找食物的依据。对于出生后需要四处寻找食物的小鼠来说，这是一个很好的策略。托德兰克说，人类和小鼠同为哺乳动物，所以这项研究结果也同样适用于人类。
研究人员表示，这项结果意味着除了营养方面的考虑外，孕妇还需要注意保持健康的饮食习惯，比如尽量不饮酒等。如果胎儿感受到酒精的味道，以后酗酒的可能性就会增大；如果孕妇多吃健康食物，将有助于孩子今后拥有健康的饮食习惯。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Proc. R. Soc. B doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2314
Effects of in utero odorant exposure on neuroanatomical development of the olfactory bulb and odour preferences
Josephine Todrank1,2,*, Giora Heth1,2 and Diego Restrepo1
Abstract
Human babies and other young mammals prefer food odours and flavours of their mother's diet during pregnancy as well as their mother's individually distinctive odour. Newborn mice also prefer the individual odours of more closely related—even unfamiliar—lactating females. If exposure to in utero odorants—which include metabolites from the mother's diet and the foetus's genetically determined individual odour—helps shape the neuroanatomical development of the olfactory bulb, this could influence the perception of such biologically important odours that are preferred after birth. We exposed gene-targeted mice during gestation and nursing to odorants that activate GFP-tagged olfactory receptors (ORs) and then measured the effects on the size of tagged glomeruli in the olfactory bulb where axons from olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) coalesce by OR type. We found significantly larger tagged glomeruli in mice exposed to these activating odorants in amniotic fluid, and later in mother's milk, as well as significant preferences for the activating odour. Larger glomeruli comprising OSNs that respond to consistently encountered odorants should enhance detection and discrimination of these subsequently preferred odours, which in nature would facilitate selection of palatable foods and kin recognition, through similarities in individual odours of relatives.
