Cited by 431Child Nutrition and Water AccessChild Abuse and TraumaFood Security and Health in Diverse Populations

Family Poverty Affects the Rate of Human Infant Brain Growth

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Hanson, Jamie L., Hair, Nicole, Shen, Dinggang G., Shi, Feng, Gilmore, John H., Wolfe, Barbara L., Pollak, Seth D.·2013·PLoS ONE

Abstract

Living in poverty places children at very high risk for problems across a variety of domains, including schooling, behavioral regulation, and health. Aspects of cognitive functioning, such as information processing, may underlie these kinds of problems. How might poverty affect the brain functions underlying these cognitive processes? Here, we address this question by observing and analyzing repeated measures of brain development of young children between five months and four years of age from economically diverse backgrounds (n = 77). In doing so, we have the opportunity to observe changes in brain growth as children begin to experience the effects of poverty. These children underwent MRI scanning, with subjects completing between 1 and 7 scans longitudinally. Two hundred and three MRI scans were divided into different tissue types using a novel image processing algorithm specifically designed to analyze brain data from young infants. Total gray, white, and cerebral (summation of total gray and white matter) volumes were examined along with volumes of the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. Infants from low-income families had lower volumes of gray matter, tissue critical for processing of information and execution of actions. These differences were found for both the frontal and parietal lobes. No differences were detected in white matter, temporal lobe volumes, or occipital lobe volumes. In addition, differences in brain growth were found to vary with socioeconomic status (SES), with children from lower-income households having slower trajectories of growth during infancy and early childhood. Volumetric differences were associated with the emergence of disruptive behavioral problems.

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Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0080954

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  • Neonates carrying the ε4 allele of APOE have reduced volumes in temporal cortex, similar to those reported in the elderly.

    “neonates carrying the ε4 allele of APOE (which encodes apolipoprotein E), a major susceptibility allele for late-onset Alzheimer disease, have reduced volumes in temporal cortex, highly similar to those reported in the elderly.”
  • White-matter volume does not seem to be affected by socio-economic status.

    “white-matter volume does not seem to be affected by SES169, 171”
  • Common variants in psychiatric risk genes are associated with individual differences in brain tissue volumes in neonates.

    “Common variants in psychiatric risk genes are associated with individual differences in brain tissue volumes in neonates171.”
  • The influence of socio-economic status on brain structure seems to become greater with age in early childhood.

    “The influence of SES on brain structure seems to become greater with age in early childhood171”
  • Neonates homozygous for the rs4680 valine allele of COMT exhibit reduced grey matter in the temporal cortex and hippocampus, mirroring adult findings.

    “neonates homozygous for the rs4680 valine allele of COMT (which encodes catechol-O-methyltransferase) exhibit reduced grey matter in the temporal cortex and hippocampus, mirroring findings in adults.”

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Authors
Hanson, J. L., Hair, N., Shen, D. G., Shi, F., Gilmore, J. H., Wolfe, B. L., & Pollak, S. D.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Corresponding author
Hanson, Jamie L.
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2013-12-11
Volume
8
Issue
12
Pages
e80954
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2018329895
Cited by
430
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 17
FWCI
26.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UNC Libraries
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Russell Sage Foundation
  • Sage Foundation
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • McGill University
  • National Institutes of Health (n01hd23343-8-0-0, MH61285, MH100217)
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG042599, R01AG041721, AG041721)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH100217, MH61285, T32MH018029, R01MH100217, N01-NS-9-2314, R01MH068858, N01-MH 90002, MH018029, MH 68858, R01MH061285)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (F31DA028087, N01-MH9-0002, DA028087)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (N01-NS-9-2317, N01-NS-92314, N01-HD02–3343, N01-MH9-0002, N01-NS-92319, N01-NS 92315, N01‐NS‐9‐2314, ‐2315, ‐2316, ‐2317, ‐2319 and ‐2320, N01-NS 92316, N01 NS-9-2320)
  • National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (EB006733, EB009634, EB008374, R01EB008374, R01EB009634, R01EB006733)
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (N01‐HD02‐3343)
  • U.S. Children's Bureau
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30HD003352, N01-HD023343)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
Keywords
household poverty, socioeconomic status, infant brain development, gray matter volume, white matter volume, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, low-income children, disruptive behavior problems, cognitive development, brain growth trajectories
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Brain, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Occipital Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Poverty, Socioeconomic Factors, Temporal Lobe

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