Differences in Brain Development Regardless of Family Circumstances
Impact on Mental Health and Cognitive Function
A study has found that children living in regions with severe social inequality show differences in brain structure, regardless of their family circumstances.
The British daily newspaper The Guardian recently reported that research teams from King's College London, Harvard University, and the University of York analyzed the correlation between child brain development and social inequality in a paper published in the international journal Nature Mental Health.
The researchers analyzed MRI scans of the brains of over 10,000 children and adolescents based on data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study in the United States. They also quantified the level of income inequality in each U.S. state. New York, Connecticut, California, and Florida were found to have relatively high levels of inequality, while Utah, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Vermont were relatively equal.
The results showed that children living in areas with high levels of inequality exhibited reduced cortical surface area and altered brain connectivity, regardless of whether they were from affluent or low-income families.
Furthermore, when examining the mental health status of children in the same regions, those living in areas with greater inequality had higher levels of depression and anxiety. This suggests that changes in brain structure may actually lead to a decline in mental health.
Using MRI scans, the researchers examined the surface area and thickness of the cortex, which is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as memory, emotion, attention, and language, as well as the connectivity between brain regions. They found that children living in areas with high social inequality and poverty had reduced cortical surface area and altered connectivity between various brain regions.
The research team stated that these findings are the first to demonstrate that social inequality directly affects the brain structure of children.
Dr. Divyangana Rakesh of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London said, "This study shows that it is not the income level of individual families, but the overall distribution of income in society that affects child development. Changes in brain development were observed in both affluent and low-income groups, and this has long-term implications for children's well-being." She added that further research is needed to determine whether similar results would be found in highly unequal cities such as London in the United Kingdom.
Co-author Professor Vikram Patel of Harvard University said, "These results show that social factors such as income inequality can affect well-being through changes in brain structure. This is an important example in the growing body of research linking social factors and brain development."
Another co-author, Professor Kate Pickett of the University of York, stated, "Reducing inequality is not simply an economic issue but a public health challenge. The changes we observed in the brain areas responsible for emotional regulation and attention demonstrate that inequality creates a harmful environment that directly impacts children's development." She emphasized, "Because such changes can affect mental health throughout a person's lifetime, this study marks an important advance in showing how inequality penetrates into the body."
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