Text written in Basque and translated automatically by Elia without any subsequent editing. SEE ORIGINAL

The postal code influences the brain structure of children

How do children’s brains differ from each other? What is the main reason for this difference? A study has revealed that the answer is the socioeconomic level.

There are no two completely identical brains. In all human brains, certain functions are located in certain areas: hearing, vision, control of body movements, etc. These areas that we all share are only half of the entire brain; the structure of the other half is specific to each person.

For decades, neuroscience has been trying to explain the cause of these differences. Factors such as intelligence, sleep, physical activity, mental health, screen use or diet have been investigated. However, it has been difficult to determine the importance of each of these factors.

“The socioeconomic level represented by the postal code has had the strongest association with the structure of the children’s brain.”

in 2017, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) was launched in the United States of America. This study aims to investigate adolescent health and brain development. A research team at the University of Washington School of Medicine has taken data from more than 4,000 children aged 9 to 10 years old to compare their brains and understand why these differences occur.

649 variables have been used to analyze whether they affect the structure of children's brains, including daily habits, family characteristics and environmental variables. Of all these variables, the socioeconomic level represented by the postal code has had the strongest association.

This factor has been mostly related to the motor and sensory systems of the brain, which has surprised researchers. It was thought that the socio-economic level would be more closely related to care or control, but it has not been so. So they deepened more. Based on other data, it has been observed that there is a direct relationship between socioeconomic level and sleep, the effect of stimulants, stress and other phenomena related to agitation. The authors point out that it is not possible to ensure causality, but they believe that there is a relationship that goes beyond correlation.

“The intelligence quotient is closely related to the socioeconomic level.”

Another surprise has been that the intelligence quotient is closely related to the socioeconomic level. According to the authors, this does not indicate that the child’s environment completely determines his cognitive ability, but that perhaps the intelligence quotient does not measure exactly what we want it to measure. Regardless of social and economic differences, it can be difficult to understand the associations between brain and behavior. What seemed to be a sign of a child’s intelligence can reflect the conditions of his childhood.

It should be clarified that the socio-economic level goes beyond family income. It includes the neighborhood, the availability of resources, economic stability or the environment of childhood, variables that can directly affect the level of stress and sleep habits of children. Therefore, the message that the authors have tried to convey is that the environment in which children grow up not only affects their well-being or educational possibilities, but also their brain structure.