Family income kindles brighter sparks in the brain's judgment and attention regions

The injustices of growing up poor start early, and even before adolescence, may leave their mark on the brain's prefrontal cortex -- the area known as the seat of higher reasoning and a key node in making comparative judgments, weighing risks and focusing attention amid distractions. Researchers have long observed performance gaps between rich and poor in some tests of cognitive skills and reasoning. They wondered whether poverty not only degraded performance on such tests, but also changed underlying brain structure and function as well.

A small study, soon to be published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, suggests an answer: By age 10, the prefrontal cortex of a child who has grown up in poverty appears to respond to some test stimuli in ways that are detectably different from the electrical activity shown in the prefrontal region of a more affluent child. And by some measures, the response pattern seen in the brains of poor kids looked very much like that seen in an adult who has suffered a stroke in those regions. Overall, no such similarity was seen in the cortical response patterns of the group in the highest socioeconomic bracket.

A pair of UC Berkeley neuroscientists, joining forces with researchers from UCLA, Stanford and University of British Columbia in Vancouver, rigged up the noggins of 26 kids -- with an average age of 9.5 years -- with probes that sense the ebb and flow of electrical current in different regions of the brain. Then, they put them through a battery of neuropsychological tests. Half of the kids came from families with annual incomes that averaged just over $27,000 and generally had low levels of parental education; the other half came from families where a primary caregiver had completed at least four years of college and in which annual household income averaged a little more than $97,000.

The kids, on the whole, performed roughly evenly on the neuropsych tests, which were meant to be relatively easy. Investigators were not looking at performance, but at how the two groups of kids' brains "lit up" in response to the task. The authors, led by Berkeley neuroscientist Mark M. Kishiyama, speculated that growing up in environments with a narrower range of stimulation -- ranging from books and play groups to the give-and-take of child-parent interaction -- may put poorer kids at an early disadvantage.

Enriched environments such as early preschool, the authors suggest, could erase such differences. With debates expected soon over President-elect Barack Obama's proposal for universal preschool, this preliminary study may get some high-level attention. With only 26 participants, however, it is far from definitive. Stay tuned for more.

-- Melissa Healy

Comments

[James Sullivan]

While our differences: size, hair color, skin color etc are undeniable there is a misperception being propagated by social scientists that our brains are exactly the same. Income is not causative, it is merely a matter of smarter people making more money and having smarter kids.

[Daisy]

I think the researchers are mistaking correlation for causation.

[Christine Wheeler]

My name is Christine Wheeler. I found this article very interesting. All three of my now grown children went to preschool and I strongly feel that preschool is important to early brain development. I feel kids that go to preschool have an advantage when they get to kindergarten over kids who didn't. I recently published a children's book called Bella's Marigold Cake. Read below about my book: A Poignant Story about a Little Girl's Capacity for Love and Forgiveness
By Eloquent Books
Dated: Oct 08, 2008
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Bella is a beautiful child. She spends hours in her sandbox creating all kinds of wonders. One fine
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Along comes Eleanora, a bit of a troublemaker and a friend who Bella doesn't always trust. What happens next will teach both little girls about random and simple acts of kindness
Wheeler writes with clarity and an astonishing insight about the way children perceive situations and how they react to them. She has combined the whimsy of Dr. Seuss and the intelligence of J.K. Rowling to create her delightful characters—heartfelt and real. Her book will be one that you'll keep as a permanent part of your children's library—it's about understanding, compassion and kindness.
Publisher's website: http:// www.eloquentbooks.com/BellasMarigoldCake.html
About the Author:
Christine Wheeler is currently working on her next children's book. Ms. Wheeler lives in Lawrence, Kansas near her three children.
For media inquiries, appearances, or other publicity — please contact:
Ellen Green — PressManager@aegpublishinggroup.com
AEG Publishing Group, Inc.
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