Cited by 300Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareChild Nutrition and Water AccessEarly Childhood Education and Development

The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity

Open access
Troller-Renfree, Sonya V., Costanzo, Molly A., Duncan, Greg J., Magnuson, Katherine, Gennetian, Lisa A., Yoshikawa, Hirokazu, Halpern-Meekin, Sarah, Fox, Nathan A. +1 more·2022·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

= 435). We hypothesized that infants in the high-cash gift group would have greater EEG power in the mid- to high-frequency bands and reduced power in a low-frequency band compared with infants in the low-cash gift group. Indeed, infants in the high-cash gift group showed more power in high-frequency bands. Effect sizes were similar in magnitude to many scalable education interventions, although the significance of estimates varied with the analytic specification. In sum, using a rigorous randomized design, we provide evidence that giving monthly unconditional cash transfers to mothers experiencing poverty in the first year of their children's lives may change infant brain activity. Such changes reflect neuroplasticity and environmental adaptation and display a pattern that has been associated with the development of subsequent cognitive skills.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.2115649119

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  • A regular income boost improves children's brain development in their first year of life.

    “This is supported by recent evidence fromTroller-Renfree et al. (2022), who find that a regular income boost improves children's brain development in their first year of life.”

    From Educational Inequality* (2022) · cites this paper as Troller-Renfree et al. (2022)

    The Abstract reports that monthly cash transfers to low-income families may affect infant brain activity at age one, and the Results find higher power in some EEG frequency bands in the higher-cash group. But the Discussion cautions that the evidence does not establish a general improvement in brain development: the observed patterns are associated with later skills, not proof of better developmental outcomes, and not all findings survive multiple-comparison correction. (LLM, conf=0.89)

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  1. [55]K. Magnuson, Baby’s First Years (BFY). Baseline Public Data, 2018-2019. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (2020). 10.3886/ICPSR37871.v2. Deposited 16 November 2020. · DOI

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Authors
Troller-Renfree, S. V., Costanzo, M. A., Duncan, G. J., Magnuson, K., Gennetian, L. A., Yoshikawa, H., Halpern-Meekin, S., Fox, N. A., & Noble, K. G.
Affiliations
  • Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • Duke University (US)
  • New York University (US)
  • School of Human Ecology and LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706
  • University of Maryland, College Park (US)
  • Columbia University (US)
Corresponding author
  • Duncan, Greg J.
  • Noble, Kimberly G.
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2022-01-24
Volume
119
Issue
5
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W4207040139
Cited by
300
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 51 · 2024: 84 · 2023: 87 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 1
FWCI
78.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Issue Lab (Candid) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • HHS | National Institutes of Health (R01HD087384, K99HD104923)
  • Annie E. Casey Foundation (214.0183)
  • Andrew and Julie Klingenstein Fund (N/A)
  • Arrow Impact (N/A)
  • Bezos Family Foundation (N/A)
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1185312)
  • Bill Hammack and Janice Parmelee (N/A)
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation (N/A)
  • Brady Education Fund (N/A)
  • Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)/Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (2017-177918)
  • Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation (13080)
  • Child Welfare Fund (13-1624202)
  • Ester A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund (N/A)
  • Ford Foundation (0170-0832)
  • Greater New Orleans Foundation (N/A)
  • Heising-Simons Foundation (542569)
  • Jacobs Foundation (102535)
  • JPB Foundation (1132)
  • J-Pal North America (S5341)
  • New York City Mayor's Office for Economic Research (CT1 069 20201415397)
  • Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (RHD087384A)
  • Perigee Fund (N/A)
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (75592)
  • Sherwood Foundation (4288)
  • Valhalla Foundation (N/A)
  • Weitz Family Foundation: Feed the Body, Feed the Mind, Feed the Spirit (N/A)
  • W. K. Kellogg (P3031579)
  • Three Anonymous Donors (N/A)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
Keywords
poverty reduction, unconditional cash transfers, infant brain activity, EEG spectral power, neuroplasticity, maternal poverty, early childhood, cognitive development, environmental enrichment
MeSH terms
Brain, Female, Food Supply, Humans, Income, Infant, Male, Mothers, Nutritional Status, Poverty, Rural Population

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