Socioeconomic Factors Have Lasting Effects on Child Brain Development

Hundreds of factors shape a child’s life and identity, from demographics and environment to social adjustment and personality. A new study led by WashU Medicine researchers shows that these influences also leave a measurable mark on brain development.

Senior author Nico U. Dosenbach, MD, PhD, the David M. and Tracy S. Holtzman Professor of Neurology, and first author  Scott A. Marek, PhD, assistant professor for WashU Medicine Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), analyzed brain scans from nearly 12,000 children ages 9 to 10. Their goal was to understand how environment, health and daily habits relate to brain development.

These Neuroimaging Labs Research Center researchers found that socioeconomic factors accounted for 16% of the variation in children’s brain function and were more strongly associated with brain structure and function than any other factor, including IQ. Family socioeconomic status emerged as the strongest predictor among the variables studied.

The brain regions linked to socioeconomic conditions were also the most sensitive to sleep quality and stress, suggesting that disadvantage may affect brain development indirectly through chronic stress and disrupted sleep. These associations were strongest in motor and sensory regions, while areas involved in cognition and problem-solving were less affected. The findings, published in Science, suggest that differences in apparent cognitive ability may reflect the effects of fatigue and stress rather than differences in intellectual capacity.

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