• May 3, 2024

The children and adolescents who grow up in households with less income have brains smaller compared to those who live in wealth, says new research.

Thus, having a high economic income and investing in an adequate education is associated with the increase in the surface area of ​​several regions of the brain of children, including those involved in the functions of the language and the executives.

Family income is linked to factors such as nutrition, health care, appropriate schools and propitiate play areas. And everything that happens in the environment shapes the developing brain, "he explains. Elizabeth Sowell , of the Children's Hospital Los Angeles .

In the next video the neuropediatrician Marcelo Román explains the importance of stimulating brain development of the kids.

Negative impact on life

The team of neuroscientists recorded the brain images of more than a thousand children and teenagers between 3 and 20 years old. They measured the surface of the cerebral cortex , the outer layer of the brain that controls cognitive functions such as language, reading and decision making.

Their results reveal that brains of children from families with fewer resources had on average 6% less surface than those whose parents had income superiors The more "poor" infants also scored lower on a series of cognitive tests.

The correlation is not causality. We can talk about links between parent education, income and brain structure of children, but we can not say that these differences are causing alterations in the infant brain, "says Kimberly Noble , teacher of the Columbia University and co-author of the study.

The experts have two theories that explain the results. The first is that families with fewer resources do not have access to the material goods that help the healthy development , as well as a good nutrition and better quality health services.

The second is that those with fewer resources have more chaotic lives, where the stress could be inhibiting the development of brain In the kids.

In Mexico 45.5% of the population lives in conditions of poverty and the health and medical services they receive are still insufficient, says the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval) . 

Video Medicine: What Negative Thinking Does To Your Brain (May 2024).