In children from low-income families, some areas of the brain, on average, are less developed, scientists have found. However, these violations can be mitigated or prevented if the family has warm relationships.
Psychologist Seth D. Pollak from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) and colleagues analyzed the results of magnetic resonance imaging of the brain in 389 ordinary children and adolescents aged 4 to 22 years and compared these data with information about their socioeconomic status. They also assessed the children’s intelligence test scores, their academic performance, and physiological measures such as total brain gray matter volume, frontal gray matter volume, temporal lobes, and hippocampus.
Sue Gerhardt
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It was found that children from families whose income was not much higher than the federal poverty line in the United States had gray matter volume in various areas of the brain 3-4% below normal. Children from families living below the poverty line lagged behind even more – by 8-10%. Children from families with low incomes, on average, scored 4-7 points lower on standardized tests. The authors suggest that this lag has several reasons, but at least 20% of it can be explained by reduced gray matter volume in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.
It is important to note that we are not talking about congenital or hereditary, but about acquired developmental defects – this is confirmed by studies conducted with adopted children. Compared to more affluent peers, children in poor families tend to receive less parental care and experience more stressors in their lives, including family instability and increased levels of violence. They live in more cramped conditions and have fewer opportunities for intellectual development.
Researchers believe that in families where a friendly atmosphere reigns, parents take good care of the child, such deviations can be leveled. In addition, an effective social assistance system must function in society: social support programs and benefits to support low-income families. Only in this case will it be possible to cope with the problem of a lag in the development of the child’s intellect due to the negative impact of the low socioeconomic status of the family.
Подробнее см. L. Hair et al. «Association of Child Poverty, Brain Development, and Academic Achievement», JAMA Pediatrics, July 2015.