How Does Poverty Damage the Brain?

According to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, growing up in poverty has damaging and detrimental effects on the developing brain. The study, conducted by researchers from Washington University, identified changes in the brain’s architecture as a result of living in poverty. “Our research has shown that the effects of poverty on the developing brain, particularly in the hippocampus, are strongly influenced by parenting and life stresses experienced by the children,” said the director of Washington University’s Early Emotional Development Program. Results of the study found that low-income children had irregular brain development and lower standardized test scores — with as much as an estimated 20-percent gap in achievement — which can be explained by developmental lags in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The findings suggest that teaching nurturing skills to parents — particularly those who live below the poverty line — may provide a lifetime of benefit for children. To read more about this study, click here.