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Preschool poverty may affect brain connectivity, depression later in childhood

Poverty in early childhood may impact hippocampal and amygdala connectivity development, leading to negative mood symptoms later in childhood.

“Our past research has shown that the brain's anatomy can look different in poor children, with the size of the hippocampus and amygdala frequently altered in kids raised in poverty,” study researcher Deanna Barch, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, said in a press release. “In this study, we found that the way those structures connect with the rest of the brain changes in ways we would consider to be less helpful in regulating emotion and stress.”

To determine if poverty experienced in early childhood impacted functional brain connectivity at school age, mediating negative influences on child mood, researchers assessed preschoolers for up to 12 years. Study participants were aged 3 to 5 years at baseline. Behavioral assessments were conducted annually and neuroimaging was conducted at school age. Poverty was measured by income-to-needs ratio.

Lower income-to-needs ratio at preschool age was associated with reduced connectivity between the hippocampus and amygdala at school age, including the superior frontal cortex, lingual gyrus, posterior cingulate and putamen.

Lower income-to-needs ratio predicted more severe negative mood/depression at school age, as did connectivity between the left hippocampus and right superior frontal cortex and between the right amygdala and right lingual gyrus.

The relationship between income-to-needs ratio and negative mood/depression was mediated by connectivity, according to researchers.

“Many things can be done to foster brain development and positive emotional development,” Barch said in the release. “Poverty doesn't put a child on a predetermined trajectory, but it behooves us to remember that adverse experiences early in life are influencing the development and function of the brain. And if we hope to intervene, we need to do it early so that we can help shift children onto the best possible developmental trajectories.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Barch reports serving as a consultant for Amgen, Pfizer, Takeda, and Roche and has a contract to analyze imaging data for Pfizer. Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.