Study shows differences between brains of high-income children and low-income children.

[BlueIris]

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/12/02_cortex.shtml

Yikers!

[panader0]

1. I have a poverty level income and three teenagers.

All of the children are very intelligent. The oldest just got ger results from a nationwide PSAT test: 98 percentile in math, 94 in writing.

[Orangeone]

9. Same here

My son is super intelligent even though we are poor. It's the educational level of the parent not income that affects the child's development.

I've heard that the difference between many low income parents and wealthier parents is that they don't talk as much to their babies, and many are too strict with their toddlers, not allowing them to explore, or touch anything!

[tandot]

2. We need more money for education and to help these children early on:

from the article:

"This is a wake-up call," Knight said. "It's not just that these kids are poor and more likely to have health problems, but they might actually not be getting full brain development from the stressful and relatively impoverished environment associated with low socioeconomic status: fewer books, less reading, fewer games, fewer visits to museums."

Kishiyama, Knight and Boyce suspect that the brain differences can be eliminated by proper training. They are collaborating with UC Berkeley neuroscientists who use games to improve the prefrontal cortex function, and thus the reasoning ability, of school-age children.

"It's not a life sentence," Knight emphasized. "We think that with proper intervention and training, you could get improvement in both behavioral and physiological indices."

[enlightenment]

3. I think the key comment was this:

"This is a wake-up call," Knight said. "It's not just that these kids are poor and more likely to have health problems, but they might actually not be getting full brain development from the stressful and relatively impoverished environment associated with low socioeconomic status: fewer books, less reading, fewer games, fewer visits to museums."


It seems to be at least some evidence that lack of mental stimulation can stunt the ability to effectively utilize the brain. It is frightening; at least it doesn't seem to be irreversible - but I think changing the trend will require a lot of work. I wonder what the differences would have been 50 or 60 years ago, when children spent more time in creative play (because there wasn't much else to do, regardless of socio-economic status) and had far less access (if any) to television.


on edit: sorry about using the same quote - I think we cross-posted.

[WePurrsevere]

4. The poor are more likely to be stressed & less likely to have a healthy diet...

which helps with brain development from conception on. Healthy foods.. preferably stuff without all the extra chemicals added in is much better brain food but tends to often be high on the price scale. The cheapest filling food out there is pasta and rice.. while cheap and filling they're not exactly high on the brain food meter.

Sadly many folks don't know how to eat healthy either so perhaps we should work on increasing nutrition awareness.

Another thing that may be a factor for some is environment.. not just home psychological stress but air and water quality.

It would be interesting to see more studies to address the causes and what we can do to rectify this issue.

[Voice for Peace]

5. Read the research by James Prescott on brain development

http://www.violence.de

and the effect of prenatal movement, breastfeeding, touch/stimulation in infancy on crucial brain development.

Really compelling work.

[rosesaylavee]

6. My sister's kids are all above average intelligence and one

scored 100% on his science/math pre-SAT. He thought there must have been something wrong with the test because it was too easy. It covered math he hadn't had instruction on yet. :P

edit to add - they are in Section 8 housing and have struggled as she is raising them on her own.

[Lisa0825]

10. I am sure there are plenty of anecdotal reports like that,

of kids who, while living in financial poverty, were lucky in that they lived in a supportive and stimulating environment. But the problem is that the vast majority of kids living in financial poverty also suffer with educational poverty, and have an overabundance of stressors. As already mentioned, aside from lack of intellectual stimulation and too much stress, poor nutrition and poor prenatal nutrition/medical care have a lot to do with how the brain forms. Then there is the higher incidence of alcohol and drug abuse in lower socio-economic populations (including during pregnancy)... There are so many factors... It is hard to even pick which one matters most, but what is clear is that many of these factors have poverty as a common thread.

[rosesaylavee]

11. They have all those stressors in spades

Don't want to much expose my sister here but their life has been brutally difficult.

[Lisa0825]

12. Well, then they are very lucky in other ways.

It sounds like you are implying that none of these factors should affect kids' brain development because your sisters' kids are so bright. I'd have to strongly disagree if that is what you mean. It is a fact that the brain is developing into young adulthood, and many factors affect that development, from nutrition to stimulation, among others. To me, this study sounds like proof of what was already common sense.

[kath]

7. Note that re: measures that can be taken to remedy the lags in brain development of low SES

children, the article mentioned conversation,playing games and dramatic play. They did NOT mention doing more of all the bullshit "hurried child" things that are going on in child care centers, preschools and schools today - worksheets, kill-and-drill, pressure for early academics at younger and younger ages.
Kids need to spend more time actively ENGAGED in the kinds of play kids used to do, and ENGAGED in conversations with people and being read to from high-quality books.
What they don't need is more TV, stupid computer "learning toys", being pushed to learn academic stuff like numbers, letters, reading way before they are ready.

We need to get worksheets and the like OUT of our preschools and kindergartens (and eliminate most of them from the 1st grade, too), and go back to kindergartens and preschools where kids PLAYED and learned to get along with each other. Stop the drill-and-kill and the standardized testing of young children. Bring back the block corner, the sand and water table, the clay, the easels and the dramatic play area, read aloud multiple times a day, do songs and finger-plays.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. I taught kindergarten in a daycare center 24 years ago in Harlem.

The kids came from impoverished homes. Our school had a program for free meals (3). All well-balanced, nutritious, and tasty enough.

When my kids were reluctant to eat, say vegetables, I campaigned hard for the veggies. Otherwise, I knew most of them were going home to cola and chips. Their brains and bodies were still so vulnerable to nutrients, or lack thereof.

I finally told them that I hated beets. You could put chocolate sauce on 'em and that wouldn't fool my tongue. The school had the policy that ALL food served would be eaten by everybody including the teacher. I had to eat beets with the rest of them, and it was fair enough. I happily pointed out my misery with the rest of them, and that position persuaded some of the more hardcore veggie haters.

The kids were lucky to have this arrangement. Many of the free meal programs have been eliminated with dwindling budgets. If the kids are malnourished, their hunger will distract them from learning as well as curtail their ability to learn.