Brain Development / SES / Poverty

"Family income, parental education and brain structure in children and adolescents"

Nature Neuroscience and Nova Next (PBS), Allison Eck, 3/31/2015

NovaNow Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/stress-from-poverty-decreases-child-brain-sizes-even-at-birth/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=nova_next

Nature Neuroscience Link: http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.3983.html#access

I believe this article is a very important reading for educators! This article points to the issues of brain development and socioeconomic status (SES). The researchers have found and argued that brain development is affected by the SES of the person. This research may point to more importance and need in prenatal and early childhood development focus among those families of poverty.

Here is a quote from the journal: "Among children from lower income families, small differences in income were associated with relatively large differences in surface area, whereas, among children

Study Reveals Shocking Effect Of Poverty On Children's Brain Development

       By Caroling Gregoire       The Huffington Post

       March 30, 2015

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/30/brain-development-poverty_n_6968758.html?cps=gravity_2443_4648557740919786609

        While it's been well known that children from affluent households have an advantage over their peers from low income families, we don't know all the factors that cause this advantage. This article discusses research which has discovered a physical difference in brain size. The findings, published in the latest issue of Nature Neuroscience, are the result of  research conducted at 9 different universities across the country.  1,100 individuals ranging in age from 3 to 20 years old were studied and the results revealed a strong positive association between family income and brain surface area, largely in those brain areas that are linked to skills instrumental in learning and academic.