India, June 12 -- A child's family income and the neighborhood they grow up in may play a much bigger role in brain development than previously believed, according to a new study published in Science.
Researchers at Washington University in the United States analyzed brain scans from nearly 12,000 children aged 9 to 10 who were part of the NIH-funded Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. They examined 649 lifestyle-related factors across 12 categories and found that socioeconomic conditions accounted for about 16% of the differences in children's brain function.
The findings suggest that factors such as family income, housing stability, and neighborhood resources have a greater influence on brain development than individual...