Poverty shapes children's brains more than parenting or IQ, study says

Everything a child experiences leaves an imprint on the brain, influencing development and function for the rest of their lives.

A child’s family financial situation and surroundings, such as the neighbourhood they grow up in, may have a stronger impact on brain development than previously thought, new research suggests.

A study by researchers at Washington University in the United States found that socioeconomic factors accounted for about 16% of the variability in measures of children’s brain function, having a greater impact than intelligence quotient (IQ), parenting style and health history.

“The brain of a child from a low socioeconomic background looks like that of a child from a high socioeconomic environment that has been sleep-deprived and stressed,” said Nico Dosenbach, senior author of the study.

He added that it is not a “less-smart brain,” and if there were ways to improve sleep and reduce stress for children from households with more limited socioeconomic opportunities, differences linked to these circumstances could be reduced.

Children are especially vulnerable to poverty. They are more likely to live in poverty than adults, and it can have greater consequences on them during key developmental years.

Nearly 900 million children worldwide experience multidimensional poverty, according to UNICEF, meaning they lack basic necessities like food, water, shelter, education and healthcare.

The researchers analysed around 12,000 children aged between nine and ten, examining their environment, health and daily activities.

They assessed 649 variables influencing brain development, divided into categories such as screen time, cognitive abilities, physical and mental health, parenting, and race and sex.

Neighbourhood conditions and financial status emerged as main drivers. They were particularly associated with functional features in the motor and sensory areas of the brain, which are highly sensitive to day-to-day variations in sleep and stress

“I started calling it the ‘elephant in the brain,’” said Scott Marek, first author of the study. “I thought socioeconomic opportunity would matter, but I didn’t think it would matter this much. It just dwarfed everything else.”

He noted that by solely looking at a child’s brain scans, the team could tell how well off the child's family is, and how much sleep and screen time they get.

However, brain scans do not allow for determining the IQ. “That tells me IQ is not rooted in neurobiology. The environment shapes children’s brains in ways that have been misinterpreted as being reflections of IQ, when really they’re just reflections of stress and sleep deprivation,” Marek said.