How Does Growing up in Poverty Affect the Development of
a Child's Brain
It wasn't long ago that scientists believed that the brain
was a predictable organ with rigid confines, not that different from the liver
or the lungs. They postulated that genetics pre-determine the learning ability,
baseline intelligence and problem-solving capabilities of an individual.
However, with the latest research shedding more light on the
neuroplasticity of the brain, scientists are beginning to acknowledge that the
brain is highly responsive and constantly evolving, with the innate ability to
change at large-scale and cellular levels due to experiences and environmental
influences. Already, this research has gone a long way into explaining certain
phenomena, like how people whose vision is impaired can re-allocate areas of
their brain meant to process sights for analyzing sound.
The brain of children is particularly vulnerable to changes
– research has demonstrated how growing up in a poor household under strained
conditions can impair a child's cognitive abilities that last their entire
lives. Let us take a look at some of the ways poverty can affect brain
development in children:
·
A recent study
employed fMRI (to detect the flow of blood in different areas of the brain) to
study how emotions are regulated in young adults. They were part of a
long-running study on the effects of poverty. The study showed that the
participants who grew up in dire circumstances showed more brain activity in
their amygdala (associated with fear, anxiety and other emotional disorders) as
well as a marked drop in their prefrontal cortex activity (which plays a key
role in restricting the amygdala and prioritizing long-term decisions over
impulsive reactions) when they were shown disturbing images. Researchers
postulated that chronic stressors, like noise, crowding, separation or family
turmoil could affect the brain's development and explain the observed
correlation.
·
Another study examined
the relationship between childhood nurturing and brain tissue growth in a
controlled age group (6-12). Children whose parents were known to have poor nurturing
abilities showed slowed growth in gray matter, white matter as well as reduced
volumes in parts of the brain involved in coping with external stress and
learning skills. The children were similar in all other aspects except the
nurturing skills of their parents, which practically retarded their mental
development at least by two years. The study also found that impoverished
parents had poorer nurturing skills. To an objective observer, it might seem
heavy handed to judge the parenting style, but the researchers took into
account chronic stressors as well – children who were brought up in a poor
household, but did not have as many stressful events (the frequency of which
was determined by annual assessments) showed smaller reductions in their neural
development.
·
Some studies have looked at more specific
effects. A
recent study conducted by the Northwestern University found a correlation
between children who came from disadvantaged backgrounds had less efficient auditory
processing skills – the part of the brain that was responsible for processing
daily sounds responded to distracting noises more than the main activity
compared to control participants. According to the researchers, it could be
explained by the well understood correlation between noise exposure in more
urban areas and low income households. However, it is not yet established as to
whether the observed effects are temporary or permanent.
·
Dishearteningly enough, a recent study published
in Science showed that being preoccupied with the concerns of poverty –
struggle to pay the bills, for example – taxed the brain and left less
bandwidth to make long-term decisions and solve complicated cognitive problems.
It was observed that just getting the volunteers in the study to think about
their economic problems led to a much poorer performance on the IQ and impulse
control test.
Although the problem of less bandwidth is a temporary one,
it does go a long way in explaining how making decisions can be considerably
harder for someone who is mired in poverty. Parents should make sure that they
don't inadvertently contribute to an environment which keeps their kids from
overcoming their difficult circumstances.
