Childhood socioeconomic status and adult brain size: Childhood socioeconomic status influences adult hippocampal size

Staff, Roger T.; Murray, Alison; Ahearn, Trevor; Mustafa, Nazahan; Fox, Helen; Whalley, Lawrence J.

doi:10.1002/ana.22631

Cited by 153 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Hippocampal abnormalities have been robustly linked to SES. For instance, one study reported that low childhood SES predicted smaller hippocampal size in a sample of 249 older adults, after controlling for gender, education, mental ability at age 11, and adult SES (Staff et al, 2012). Another study noted that financial hardship (but not childhood poverty) reduced hippocampal volume in middle-aged adults (Butterworth et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar effects on brain structure may also be present in humans. Lower childhood SES has been linked to reduced hippocampal volume both during childhood (Hanson et al, 2011) and into adulthood (Staff et al, 2012). Lower early-life SES is also associated with reduced anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and caudate volume in adults (Cohen et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Childhood Poverty and Stress Reactivity Are Associated with Aberrant Functional Connectivity in Default Mode Network

Sripada¹,

Swain

Evans

et al. 2014

Neuropsychopharmacol

143

117

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Convergent research suggests that childhood poverty is associated with perturbation in the stress response system. This might extend to aberrations in the connectivity of large-scale brain networks, which subserve key cognitive and emotional functions. Resting-state brain activity was measured in adults with a documented history of childhood poverty (n ¼ 26) and matched controls from middle-income families (n ¼ 26). Participants also underwent a standard laboratory social stress test and provided saliva samples for cortisol assay. Childhood poverty was associated with reduced default mode network (DMN) connectivity. This, in turn, was associated with higher cortisol levels in anticipation of social stress. These results suggest a possible brain basis for exaggerated stress sensitivity in low-income individuals. Alterations in DMN may be associated with less efficient cognitive processing or greater risk for development of stress-related psychopathology among individuals who experienced the adversity of chronic childhood poverty.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Poverty and Stress Reactivity Are Associated with Aberrant Functional Connectivity in Default Mode Network

Sripada¹,

Swain

Evans

et al. 2014

Neuropsychopharmacol

143

117

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is important to note that in order to be confident that the relationship between childhood SED and adult neural alterations is not simply reflecting concurrent SED status, these life course studies should examine the association of childhood SED and adult brain independently of adult SED. In a sample of over 200 68-year-old adults in England, childhood exposure to SED at age 11 years was prospectively associated with reduced hippocampal volumes after controlling for adulthood exposure to SED at age 65 (Staff et al 2012). However, another study provides evidence for the opposite result.…”

Section: Brain: Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

How Socioeconomic Disadvantages Get Under the Skin and into the Brain to Influence Health Development Across the Lifespan

Kim

Evans

Chen

et al. 2017

Handbook of Life Course Health Development

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Socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has adverse impacts on physical (Adler and Rehkopf 2008; Blair and Raver 2012; Braverman and Egerter 2008; Cohen et al. 2010; Poulton et al. 2002) and psychological (Adler and Rehkopf 2008; Bradley and Corwyn 2002; Grant et al. 2003) health development. SED is similar to low socioeconomic status (SES) which is based on occupation, income, and education or a composite of more than one of these indicators (McLoyd 1998). However, we conceptualize SED more broadly than socioeconomic status to also include subjective perception of social position and contextual indicators of disadvantage, such as neighborhood deprivation. One of the most commonly used SED indicators is poverty, which is calculated using income that falls below an annually adjusted federal poverty line. Some studies suggest independent effects of different SED variables, but each variable tends to be highly correlated with the others; thus, it is often nearly impossible to disentangle independent effects. Therefore, in this chapter, we will review findings on different SED variables but discuss the impact of SED inclusively. In adulthood, SED is assessed based on factors in an individual’s own background such as income, occupation, and education level, whereas in childhood, SED is typically assessed based on these factors for the parents.

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“…This adaptive mechanism is known as the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal (HPA) axis. Exposure to chronic stress is associated with higher levels of cortisol and smaller hippocampal volume that hinder neural network (Danese & McEwen, 2012;Rao et al, 2010;Staff et al, 2012). Severe stress hampers dendritic branching and induces changes in the metabolic process and alterations in the immune response bringing about vulnerability and psychopathology (Cicchetti & Rogosh, 2007;McEwen, 2003) with a negative impact on learning (Hackman & Farah, 2009;Hackman, Farah, & Meaney, 2010).…”

Section: Theory Of Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latino Immigrant Students in Spain: Potential Poly-Victims and School Underachievers

Cedeño

Martínez-Arias²,

Bueno³

2017

EJREP

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Evidence suggests that school-age Latino immigrants from low socioeconomic backgrounds are at risk of multiple victimization with serious implications for their mental health and academic competence. This theory-oriented paper proposes that the overlapping of certain characteristics in the status of immigrant have been somehow overlooked or not properly addressed when dealing with immigrants' academic underachievement in Spain. Further, it considers Latino immigrant students susceptible to suffer more than one form of violence and describes how the acculturation process and social inequality clash with the host country's values. All this seem to exert too much stress on the family, bringing about patterns of victimization of children and youth that hinder competence in several domains. The inclusion in this paper of some American and Canadian neuroscience studies on attentional deficits are relevant to understand immigrants that struggle in Spanish schools. Finally, it discusses the pernicious effects of poly-victimization and the potential benefits of prevention and intervention programs. factores como son el proceso de adaptación a una nueva cultura y la desventaja económica ejercen mucho estrés en la familia dando lugar a situaciones de maltrato hacia los niños y adolescentes, afectando considerablemente la competencia del individuo en varias áreas. La inclusión en esta investigación de algunos estudios de la neurociencia de países como los Estados Unidos y Canadá sobre deficiencias en la atención de los niños, se hace necesaria para así entender mejor la crítica situación que sufren muchos inmigrantes en los centros educativos españoles. Finalmente, además de discutir sobre los efectos perniciosos de la polivictimización, se habla del beneficio potencial que tienen los programas de prevención e intervención. Keywords

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Childhood socioeconomic status and adult brain size: Childhood socioeconomic status influences adult hippocampal size

Abstract: A significant association between childhood SES and hippocampal volumes in late life is consistent with the established neurodevelopmental findings that early life conditions have an effect on structural brain development. This remains detectable more than 50 years later.

Cited by 153 publications

References 29 publications

Childhood Poverty and Stress Reactivity Are Associated with Aberrant Functional Connectivity in Default Mode Network

Childhood Poverty and Stress Reactivity Are Associated with Aberrant Functional Connectivity in Default Mode Network

How Socioeconomic Disadvantages Get Under the Skin and into the Brain to Influence Health Development Across the Lifespan

Latino Immigrant Students in Spain: Potential Poly-Victims and School Underachievers

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