Study: Family Income And Parental Education Could Have An Impact On Child's Brain Structure
By Dr. Brian McDonough
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Could family income have an impact on the structure of the brain? According to a report in the journal Nature Neuroscience, it might.
The researchers looked at a thousand people. They looked at typical children and adolescents between three and twenty years old, followed them, and measured brain structure.
Researchers related it to ancestral origin by collecting DNA samples from each participant. What they found is that increases in both parental education and family income were associated with increases in the surface area of brain regions that are linked to language and executive functions.
The researchers say they can not explain why this relationship occurs, and they also say they're not sure if it occurs 100% of the time. They just found the association in the patients they studied.
It leaves the door open for those who believe that it isn't just genetics, it's also environment that helps impact how we develop.
