Socioeconomic Disparities Affect Prefrontal Function in Children

Abstract

Abstract& Social inequalities have profound effects on the physical and mental health of children. Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds perform below children from higher SES backgrounds on tests of intelligence and academic achievement, and recent findings indicate that low SES (LSES) children are impaired on behavioral measures of prefrontal function. However, the influence of socioeconomic disparity on direct measures of neural activity is unknown. Here, we provide electrophysiological evidence indicating that prefrontal function is altered in LSES children. We found that prefrontal-dependent electrophysiological measures of attention were reduced in LSES compared to high SES (HSES) children in a pattern similar to that observed in patients with lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) damage. These findings provide neurophysiological evidence that social inequalities are associated with alterations in PFC function in LSES children. There are a number of factors associated with LSES rearing conditions that may have contributed to these results such as greater levels of stress and lack of access to cognitively stimulating materials and experiences. Targeting specific prefrontal processes affected by socioeconomic disparity could be helpful in developing intervention programs for LSES children. &

Self-Regulation

“…One study found that low-income children exhibited lower prefrontal functioning compared to higherincome children. Specifically, the PFC functioning of low-income children in the study was similar to the level of functioning of individuals with damage to the PFC (Kishiyama et al 2009). In addition to effects on the developing brain, ACEs are related to poorer executive function and self-regulation, increased substance use, obesity, and risk-taking behaviors in adolescents and adults (see Table 1).…”

Growing up in Rural vs. Urban Poverty: Contextual, Academic, and Cognitive Differences

“…Results from this line of work suggest income level disparities exist in cognitive processing related to working memory, language, incidental memory, and inhibition, again with lower income students not performing as well as their higher income counterparts [7][8][9][10][11].…”

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

“…Children 7-12 years old performed a target detection task designed to probe cognitive flexibility and working memory, which is related to lateral prefrontal cortex activation (Kishiyama et al 2009). Lower SES children showed reduced prefrontal cortex activation compared to children of high SES families, indicating delayed prefrontal cortex development and increased risks for delay in executive function.…”