Father's Food Habits Could Influence Brain Activity of Fetus

Diet and lifestyle habits of the mother during pregnancy influences the baby but the father's lifestyle affects the cognitive skills of his offspring. Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have now shown that if male rodents are fed a diet rich in folic acid, methionine and vitamin B12, their progeny do not perform well in memory tests.The diet influences so-called epigenetic patterns in the genome, and this reprogramming is transferred to some degree to the next generation through the sperm.