Study finds socioeconomic status drives brain development differences in 9- and 10-year-olds

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine examined brain MRI scans from almost 12,000 children who were nine or ten years old.

The analysis showed that a child's socioeconomic background was the strongest environmental predictor of both brain structure and functional measures, outweighing other factors examined.

The authors suggest that chronic stress and irregular sleep patterns common in lower-income neighborhoods may underlie the observed differences, highlighting the role of social conditions in early neural development.