Posted on 12/06/2008 6:46:25 PM PST by fightinJAG
ScienceDaily (Dec. 6, 2008) — University of California, Berkeley, researchers have shown for the first time that the brains of low-income children function differently from the brains of high-income kids.
In a study recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, scientists at UC Berkeley's Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the School of Public Health report that normal 9- and 10-year-olds differing only in socioeconomic status have detectable differences in the response of their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is critical for problem solving and creativity.
Brain function was measured by means of an electroencephalograph (EEG) – basically, a cap fitted with electrodes to measure electrical activity in the brain – like that used to assess epilepsy, sleep disorders and brain tumors.
"Kids from lower socioeconomic levels show brain physiology patterns similar to someone who actually had damage in the frontal lobe as an adult," said Robert Knight, director of the institute and a UC Berkeley professor of psychology. "We found that kids are more likely to have a low response if they have low socioeconomic status, though not everyone who is poor has low frontal lobe response."
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
According to lib logic used in regards to Terri Schiavo, it is time to pull the plug.
bmflr
Nor do I. You'd think these Berzerkeley people would be bright enough to realize that these "poor kids" nonetheless enjoy living conditions superior to that of 95% or more of the U.S. population prior to WWII. That includes the parents of a lot of FReepers, including mine. Yet I will hazard a guess that few if any of us who had parents who grew up dirt poor can imagine that they would have tested as low functioning.
I agree with the poster who suggested that the children have most likely inherited their parents low intelligence. Giving such children "equal opportunity" will not produce the same outcome as in children of high intelligence. Our goal should be to insure such children develop to the best of their abilities... not to have them chase some liberal pipedream.
I believe you're right. It is lack of cognitive stimulation in their environment, (illiterate parents and other care givers).
My husband, too, and he's pretty bright. He could have done a lot more with more opportunity, though.
This is totally a chicken vs. the egg argument... And they think we are all are as slow as their test subjects.
Would that be because they’re poor or because they’re not smart?
Chicken or Egg?
I hear Obama cures all frontal lobe disorders, and will fill your gas tank!
Hope!
Change!
(Bulls***)
Let me guess... A new stiff tax is the way to cure this problem.
To follow the left’s own reasoning (as in the case of Trig Palin), all poor kids should be aborted because they might grow up to be below average.
Museums?! Books! BOOKS!!!!!!!!
Oh, great! We just elected one president!
How enlightening Berzerkley, now we can fix all of our social ills with guess what? More money. We'll make the 'poor' rich and the 'rich' poor and all will be fine with the lil' one's gray matter. (
They must have just finished watching 'Trading Places'.)
Dude, I’m going back to drinking lead based paint straight out of the can.
“His reply was something like for the price of a bag of potato chips, you could buy two dozen eggs, a bunch of veggies and so on.”
I have read (and from my own limited observation, I believe it to be true) that a lot of these inner city neighborhoods don’t have regular grocery stores where you can buy said eggs, veggies, etc., though there are 7-11’s and so forth where you can buy doughnuts and chips. Transportation is a big issue for a lot of poor people: it is difficult to buy a bunch of groceries at a regular store and then haul it all home on the bus. (When I was in grad school I had the same problem — there was no grocery store nearby and I didn’t have a car, so getting decent groceries back to my pad took some conniving.) I’m not saying that a lot of poor people could not make better choices, but sometimes it isn’t as simple as it looks.
I agree with that.
That's all you need to know. Anything from Berkeley is suspect.
I don’t think it has to do with poverty at all, I think it’s because we have not so smart parents having kids.
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