Poor Children May Have Smaller Brains Than Rich Children. Does That Tell Us Anything?

Slate ^ | April 17, 2015 | Jordan Weissmann

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Social scientists have found that by the time children enter kindergarten, there is already a large academic achievement gap between students from wealthy and poor families. We still don't know exactly why that's the case. There's a sense that it at least partly has to do with the fact that affluent mothers and fathers have more intensive parenting sytles—they're more likely to read to their kids, for instance—and have enough money to make sure their toddlers grow up well-nourished, generally cared for, and intellectually stimulated. At the same time, poor children often grow up in chaotic, food-insecure, stressful homes that aren't conducive to a developing mind.

A new study in the journal Nature Neuroscience adds an interesting biological twist to this issue. Using MRI scans of more than 1,000 subjects between the ages of 3 and 20, it finds that children with poor parents tend to have somewhat smaller brains, on some dimensions, than those grow up affluent. Specifically, low-income participants had less surface area on their cerebral cortexes—the gray matter responsible for skills such as language, problem solving, and other higher-order functions we generally just think of as human intelligence. Poorer indviduals in the study also fared worse on a battery of cognitive tests, and a statistical analysis suggested the disparities were related to brain dimensions.

How big a difference are we talking about? According to the researchers, children whose parents earned less than $25,000 per year had 6 percent less surface area on their cortex than those whose parents earned at least $150,000.......

[Cincinatus' Wife]

This is another liberal academic study designed to push public policy.

It's Big Education, hand in hand, with Big Government and Big Journalism.

Read the short piece in full, because it takes a swerve at the end that pretty much rewrites what this implies in the beginning. Which makes it the perfect academic tool for social activists to quote (w/o the academic losing their credibility).

But it still will be used to make the oft repeated claim that income/home address is the REAL social discrimination that needs to be given the "social justice" treatment.

So, if we transfer more money to the poor from the wealthy, brains will grow? If we move them into affluent neighborhoods, children will have proper parents who will feed them and read to them? This will be the rallying cry - the class warfare the Left will employ.

Being poor, doesn't prevent you from reading to your children, putting healthy food on their plates, disciplining them, pushing them to do better - anymore than being poor makes you break the law, have a dirty home, be immoral or speak unintelligibly.

Big Government's generational nurturing of special interest groups, tied to their demand for their loyalty and vote, is what has destroyed the family and harmed children.

[Cowboy Bob]

Having a small brain in genetic. Small brained people are stupid, which is why they are poor. People who have small brains tend to mate with others who have small brains...and they produce small brained children.

It’s all rather quite simple.

The only exception is when these small brained people can play sports or sing rap music. Then they can earn lots of money. But in the end they usually lose it all and go bankrupt.

[American in Israel]

Another twist is that families in lower income social levels are all on socialized medicine, families in hundred fifty thousand plus social level are on private medicine. How does that make a difference? The rate of immunization in children on social medicine is near 100%, the rate of immunization with vaccines is much less on people with private medicine. In fact the lowest rate of vacine injection is in white upper class families, alone with the loweat autosm rates.

I would love to see a study directly relating these issues.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Another study showed that illegal aliens tend to be low in intelligence, after which liberals screamed “racism” like they always do. But it just so happens that illegal aliens tend to be poor, and poor people tend to be stupid. Life is full of uncomfortable facts.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I would love to see a study directly relating these issues.

Well, then look at Hollywood's anti-vac intellectual/vocal social circle.

Money and not so much to brag about in the intellectual department - may also be observed in their children.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Another study showed that illegal aliens tend to be low in intelligence, after which liberals screamed “racism” like they always do....

I do not equate ignorance with stupidity.

[driftdiver]

IMO it’s more about eventually eliminating democracy and formalizing the elite ruling class. Because they are naturally better, smarter, stronger. Same thing was done against the Jewish people in the 1920 and 1930s.

[T-Bird45]

Having a small brain is genetic. Small brained people are stupid, which is why they are poor. People who have small brains tend to mate with others who have small brains...and they produce small brained children.

Saw it IRL when I started kindergarten in 1960 and have come to the conclusion you state above. Classic pinheads, looking like photos from 1930s Appalachian hollers.

[Leep]

So my ‘pea brain” and leftism theory is correct?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

An interesting coupling.

Let’s say that being a Leftist means that you never have to exercise your brain.

[RayChuang88]

Here's an even more uncomfortable fact: a majority of the illegals coming in from Mexico aren't even fully fluent in Spanish. Indeed, a good number of them come from southern Mexico, where they speak only the local native American language--they can barely even understand Spanish.

[knarf]

succinct

[knarf]

The root of ignorance is ignore and it is stupid to ignore (fill in the blank), thus ... ignorance and stupidity are at least close relatives

[nathanbedford]

"Charles Murray, the conservative author of the discredited book The Bell Curve, from basically telling The Washington Post that the gaps must the result of genetic inheritance:

"It is confidently known that brain size is correlated with IQ, IQ measured in childhood is correlated with income as an adult, and parental IQ is correlated with children’s IQ,” Murray wrote in an e-mail. “I would be astonished if children’s brain size were NOT correlated with parental income. How could it be otherwise?" That there is what one calls irresponsible science commentary."

Poor Charles Murray, he had to learn the hard way that science has no business getting in the way of political correctness.

[dp0622]

Excellent post. Now these people MUST get violent if they need to because their children have SMALLER BRAINS!! This is life or death!! Attack the wealthy if need be!!
what garbage. That mom is a crack addict/heroin addict/methadone addict/(insert drug here) has nothing to do with it.
And the fact that they are not read to, or encouraged to learn has nothing to do with it either.

[ronnie raygun]

So now we have to offer them free brain transplants?

[Celtic Conservative]

Suck what?!

(JK)

CC

[cripplecreek]

It tells us that poor nutrition and lack of stimulation lead to smaller brains.

It probably means more today than it did in the past.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

I call BS ,,,”may have?”

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Exposure to various environmental residuals? Tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana could be more prevalent in the environment of a poor child, at least in the living conditions that the child is directly in contact with at a very young age.