A new study has found more evidence that breastfeeding is good for the baby`s brain.

The study by researchers from Brown University, made use of specialized baby-friendly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at the brain growth in a sample of children under the age of 4.

The research found that by age 2, babies who had been breastfed exclusively for at least three months had enhanced development in key parts of the brain compared to children who were fed formula exclusively or who were fed a combination of formula and breast milk.

The extra growth was most pronounced in parts of the brain associated with language, emotional function, and cognition, the research showed.

This isn`t the first study to suggest that breastfeeding aids babies` brain development.

Behavioural studies have previously associated breastfeeding with better cognitive outcomes in older adolescents and adults.

But this is the first imaging study that looked for differences associated with breastfeeding in the brains of very young and healthy children, Sean Deoni, assistant professor of engineering at Brown and the study`s lead author said.

The findings are published in the journal NeuroImage.