Impact of family income on learning in children shaped by hippocampus in brain

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/uot-iof081220.php

 

 

News Release 12-Aug-2020
University of Toronto

 

 

A new study by a team of researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T) has identified the region of the brain's hippocampus that links low income with decreased memory and language ability in children.

Previous research has shown that children from lower income families on average score lower in memory and language abilities than their higher income peers.

It is also known that a brain region that supports these abilities -- called the hippocampus -- is sensitive to the chronic stress that can be associated with lower socioeconomic status and that it is smaller in volume in children from lower income families.

Surprisingly, previous research had failed to show that the hippocampus underlies income-related gaps in cognition.

"What we found -- and what makes this result novel -- is that it's the anterior hippocampus that is associated with differences in cognition related to income," says Alexandra Decker, lead author of a study published today in Nature Communications.

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In addition, the researchers found that increases in income benefited brain development only up to a certain threshold.

"The relationship between income and the anterior hippocampus seems to be significant up to about an annual family income of about $75,000," says Decker. "There appear to be diminishing benefits at higher levels -- which raises the question, why?

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