Over the years, many studies have examined the numerous negative effects of poverty, and now scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine have discovered that it can also change brain connectivity. The study analyzed the brain scans of 105 children between the ages of 7 and 2 and found that children living in poverty had altered brain connections between several key structures in comparison to children from higher income families. In particular, children from poor families had altered connections between the hippocampus, which is deeply involved in memory, learning and stress mediation, as well as the amygdala, which is involved in processing stress and emotion, and other areas of the brain.
The data was viewed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans and found that the higher the degree of poverty, the weaker the connections between the hippocampus and amygdala and the rest of the brain. Furthermore, the researchers found that poorer preschool children were more likely to experience symptoms of clinical depression when they were old enough to attend school.
"Our past research has shown that the brain's anatomy can look different in poor children, with the size of the hippocampus and amygdala frequently altered in kids raised in poverty," Deanna Barch, first author of the study, said in a press release. "In this study, we found that the way those structures connect with the rest of the brain changes in ways we would consider to be less helpful in regulating emotion and stress."
The team's previous research identified differences in the volume of gray and white matter, as well as the size and volume of the hippocampus and amygdala, in poorer children. However, they found that these changes could be fixed through nurturing parents, whereas the changes in connectivity found in the current study could not.
"Poverty is one of the most powerful predictors of poor developmental outcomes for children," said co-investigator Joan Luby. "Previously, we've seen that there may be ways to overcome some brain changes linked to poverty, but we didn't see anything that reversed the negative changes in connectivity present in poor kids."
The findings were published in the Nov. 20 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.
