Recent research from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study has reinforced previous findings that lower income is associated with smaller hippocampal volume in the brain and higher internalizing psychological issues such as depression and anxiety. Hippocampal volume matters because the hippocampus is vital for memory and learning, and a smaller hippocampus makes lower academic achievement more likely along with mental health challenges for kids and adolescents.
A major mechanism creating the relationship between income and hippocampal volume appears to be the stress created by financial hardship and the reduced capacity of caregivers as a result of financially induced constraints on their time and on the material, cognitive, and emotional resources they can provide to their children.
But social policies can reduce income disparities in brain structure. In those states providing more generous cash benefits for low-income families, income disparities in hippocampal volume were reduced as were patterns for internalizing psychopathology. These findings suggest that state-level policies, including the generosity of anti-poverty policies, are important for reducing the relationship of low income with brain development and mental health.
Weissman, et al., State-level macro-economic factors moderate the association of low income with brain structure and mental health in U.S. children, Nature Communications, 14: 2085 (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37778-1
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