Poverty can change the wiring of a child's brain, MRI study suggests
New research out of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is offering new insight into how childhood struggles can affect brain development and connectivity.
Specifically, the study’s findings indicate a role between childhood poverty and altered white matter integrity.
For their work, researchers used MRI scans from 8,842 children who participated in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study to assess how the diffusion of water across brain structures might differ in children who grew up at a socioeconomic disadvantage (neighborhoods, parents' education and income, etc.) in comparison to those who did not experience such struggles. Given the scope of all that white matter can impact in a child's development, identifying any links between alterations in white matter and a child's socioeconomic environment could present opportunities to intervene early on, experts involved in the study explained.
“White matter integrity is very important in brain development,” said first author Zhaolong (Adrian) Li, a neuroimaging research technician in the Department of Psychiatry at the university. “For example, weaknesses in white matter are linked to visuospatial and mental health challenges in children. If we can capture how socioeconomic status affects white matter early on in a child’s life, the hope is we can, one day, translate these findings to preventive measures.”
On imaging, children age 9 to 11 who were living in poverty displayed overall reduced directional movement of water molecules. The team also observed higher water concentration in the spherical spaces of their brains; combined, the findings indicate that these children could be more susceptible to structural white matter alterations, in addition to neuroinflammation.
The team also observed associations between poverty conditions, obesity and poor cognitive function. This could suggest that obesity may play a role in white matter integrity, explained co-corresponding author Tamara Hershey, PhD, the James S. McDonnell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Washington University.
“Our finding that obesity and cognitive enrichment may be relevant mediators, if confirmed, would provide strong support for managing healthy weight and encouraging cognitively stimulating activities to support brain health in disadvantaged children,” said Hershey, who also is a professor of psychiatry and of radiology.
Poverty and obesity are modifiable health risk factors; as such, their impact should be examined in larger, longitudinal samples in order to guide actionable interventions, the authors noted.
The study abstract is available here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.