The Necessity of Taking Culture and Context into Account When Studying the Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Brain Development

Abstract

Decades of research has revealed a relationship between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and brain development at the structural and functional levels. Of particular note is the distinction between income and maternal education, two highly correlated factors which seem to influence brain development through distinct pathways. Specifically, while a families' income-to-needs ratio is linked with physiological stress and household chaos, caregiver education influences the day-to-day language environment a child is exposed to. Variability in either one of these environmental experiences is related to subsequent brain development. While this work has the potential to inform public policies in a way that benefits children, it can also oversimplify complex factors, unjustly blame low-SES parents, and perpetuate a harmful deficit perspective. To counteract these shortcomings, researchers must consider sociodemographic differences in the broader cultural context that underlie SES-based differences in brain development. This review aims to address these issues by (a) identifying how sociodemographic mechanisms associated with SES influence the day-to-day experiences of children, in turn, impacting brain development, while (b) considering the broader cultural contexts that may differentially impact this relationship.

Keywords: EEG; brain development; culture; socioeconomic status (SES).

Figure 1

Theoretical model depicting the different pathways by which maternal education influences children’s daily experiences and subsequent brain development. Blue and yellow arrows distinguish different pathways by which maternal education relates to brain development.

Figure 2

Theoretical model depicting different pathways by which income to needs ratio influences children’s daily experiences and subsequent brain development. Blue and yellow arrows distinguish different pathways by which income relates to brain development.

Figure 3

Micro and macro environmental factors that differentially influence child cognitive and brain development. Items highlighted in yellow represent micro-environmental factors that are more proximal to the child’s development, while items highlighted in blue represent macro-environmental factors that are more distal to the child’s development.