There exists a need to better understand complex interrelationships between dietary intake and cognitive function, and animal models are critically important in this endeavor. The field of nutritional neuroscience has, as a primary goal, the application of findings to the human clinical setting, and therefore, models that closely mimic the human condition are highly valued. Thus, based on similarities in patterns of brain development and structure, the pig has emerged as a biomedical and preclinical model for studying human brain development and cognitive function. Building upon the storied history of using the neonatal pig as a research model for studying pediatric nutrition and metabolism, recent emphasis has been placed on understanding how signaling mechanisms in the gut, being largely synonymous with microbial interactions, influence neurodevelopment and brain function. As a precocial species, the young pig can be artificially reared with relative ease, thus providing strict control over dietary intake. Moreover, validated methods to assess learning and memory using behavioral assays now exist, and these outcomes provide a powerful and integrated view of how nutrition influences brain development. Sensitive neuroimaging sequences are also available, and along with cellular and molecular techniques optimized for the pig, there exists a fruitful area to generate new knowledge of how early-life nutrition influences neurodevelopmental processes. As such, nutritional strategies to alter the delivery of specific components to the brain, or influence the microbial composition or production of bioactive compounds in the gastrointestinal tract, are currently being tested. There are many advantages to extending the field of pediatric nutrition research by integrating outcomes related to the microbiome, routes of information transfer between the gut and brain, and processes associated with cognitive function and brain development, and the young pig will play a pivotal role in these investigations.