A new study found that poor children have smaller brains compared to those from wealthy families. However, this may be balanced by good, supportive and nurturing parents.
There were earlier studies associating brain size with poverty but the researchers initiated the study to find out the cause of the changes in the brain development as well as the negative impacts of having a smaller brain.
Dr. Joan Luby, lead author of the study and a child psychiatry professor from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis., and her colleagues recruited 145 children from daycares and preschools within the vicinity of St. Louis. They were assessed annually from three to six years before taking photos of their brains through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The researchers also assessed the parenting techniques by letting the children and their parents sit together while being observed.
Their findings showed that poor children have smaller hippocampus and amygdala in the brain which is responsible on memory retention and emotional control. Moreover, children who had had traumatic experiences and lives in hostile homes were also found to have smaller brains.
Although there is no direct proven link to brain size and poor parents or parenting techniques, the study still provides a possibility that poor children who have smaller brain may be averted through good parenting.
"Children who experience positive caregiver support don't necessarily experience the developmental, cognitive and emotional problems that can affect children who don't receive as much nurturing, and that is tremendously important," Luby told Science Daily. "This study gives us a feasible, tangible target with the suggestion that early interventions that focus on parenting may provide a tremendous payoff."
The researchers suggested that additional study is needed to identify the type of involvement needed to improve the brain development of children.
The study was published in the Oct. 28 issue of the JAMA Pediatrics.
