Socioeconomic factors, stress, hair cortisol, and white matter microstructure in children

Abstract

Socioeconomic disadvantage has been linked to increased stress exposure in children and adults. Exposure to stress in childhood has been associated with deleterious effects on cognitive development and well‐being throughout the lifespan. Further, exposure to stress has been associated with differences in brain development in children, both in cortical and subcortical gray matter. However, less is known about the associations among socioeconomic disadvantage, stress, and children's white matter development. In this study, we investigated whether socioeconomic disparities would be associated with differences in white matter microstructure in the cingulum bundle, as has been previously reported. We additionally investigated whether any such differences could be explained by differences in stress exposure and/or physiological stress levels. White matter tracts were measured via diffusion tensor imaging in 58 children aged 5–9 years. Results indicated that greater exposure to stressful life events was associated with higher child hair cortisol concentrations. Further, physiological stress, as indexed by hair cortisol concentrations, were associated with higher fractional anisotropy in the cingulum bundle. These results have implications for better understanding how perceived and physiological stress may alter neural development during childhood.

Educational Environment and White Matter Development in Early Adolescence

“…Past studies have demonstrated a relationship between white matter development and socioeconomic factors, such as parental income, environmental stress and home context 14,19,21 . We began by attempting to replicate the results from past studies that observed univariate relationships between white matter and socioeconomic factors.…”

“…Intervention studies have shown that an individual's academic environment can drive measurable changes in brain structure and function 28,29,31 . However, it remains unclear the extent to which educational opportunities uniquely influence brain development above and beyond other socioeconomic factors 12,16,19 . Here we operationalize educational opportunity based on data from the Stanford Educational Data Archive (SEDA) 27 .…”

“…Past studies have demonstrated a relationship between white ma er development and socioeconomic factors, such as parental income, environmental stress and home context 14,19,21 .…”

“…Typical measures of socioeconomic status (SES) do not elucidate the specific aspects of an individual’s environment that drive differences in white matter development. The hormone cortisol has been shown to mediate the relationship between stressful life experiences and white matter properties 19 , suggesting that environmental stress, which has been linked to aspects of SES 20 , plays a role in white matter development. Furthermore, other specific environmental factors, such as home language 21 , screen use 22 , early childhood nutrition 23,24 , and adverse childhood events 25,26 have also been linked to differences in white matter properties.…”

Sex-specific interactions between stress axis and redox balance are associated with internalizing symptoms and brain white matter microstructure in adolescents

“…Additionally, animal studies suggest that both glucocorticoids and the GSH-antioxidant balance may play a role in modulating myelin maturation [ 42 , 43 ]. Several clinical studies report negative association between morning cortisol levels and neuroimaging indices of white matter microstructure such as fractional anisotropy (FA) [ 44 , 45 ], whereas others report developmental exposure to glucocorticoids and stress to be associated with increased FA [ 46 , 47 ]. Regarding the role of redox regulation, we previously reported a positive association between central levels of GSH in the prefrontal cortex measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and structural and functional connectivity along the cingulum bundle in healthy young adults, suggesting that redox regulation supported by the GSH-redox cycle may be involved in white matter maturation [ 42 ].…”