Developed for the Hou Met Annual Conference

Presented by Roz Fink, M.A.T. &

Traci Whittenberg, Ph.D., LSSP

NEUROBIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF POVERTY ON THE DEVELOPING BRAIN

RISK FACTORS• Financial: Money to purchase good &

services

Quality of prenatal care

Exposure to toxins

Chronic stress

EMOTIONAL & SOCIAL CHALLENGES

• What we need•A strong, reliable caregiver•Safe predictable environments•Reciprocal social Interaction•Enrichment

EFFECTS ON SCHOOLS

• Give up Easily• Can’t monitor own behavior• Narrow range of emotional responses• Poor emotional regulation

ACUTE & CHRONIC STRESSORSChildren from lower SES are more likely to:• Be exposed to violence• Live in overcrowded situations• Endure multiple separations

Children of high SES show more activity (dark green) in the prefrontal cortex (top) than do kids of low SES when confronted with a novel or unexpected stimulus. (M. Kishiyama/UC Berkeley)

EFFECTS OF CHRONIC STRESS IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS & AMYGDALA

Early childhood adversity such as neglect, abuse or the stress produced by extreme poverty weakens and distorts the development of the brain and sets the body’s hormonal stress function on permanent high alert.

http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/brain-activity-in-institutionalized-and-non-institutionalized-children.jpg

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT• Research about language in children from ages 1 to 3 in stable

households by economic group.

Number of words exposed to

Economic Group Affirmations (Strokes)

Prohibitions (d9scounts)

10 million words Welfare 1 for every 2

20 million words Working class 2 for every 1

30 million words Professional 5 for every 1

Source: Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children (1995) by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley

COGNITIVE SYSTEMS & SES• Systems that we use in school:

• Executive Functions – Prefrontal Cortex

• Language – Left Perisylvan, Temporal

• Memory – Medial Temporal

• Spatial – Parietal

• Visual - Occipital

Adapted from "Neurocognitive Correlates of Socioeconomic Status in Kindergarten Children,” by K. G. Noble, M. F. Norman, and M. J. Farah, 2005, Developmental Science, 8, pp. 74–87.

HOW DO WE TEST COGNITIVE SYSTEMS?• Executive Function• Language• Memory• Spatial• Visual

ACCOUNTING FOR DIFFERENCES

• Thus far we’ve talked about:•Chronic stress•Emotional & social challenges•Language•Cognitive Systems

HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES• There is a correlation between SES and overall health

• Lower income is correlated with:

• Premature birth, low birth weight

• Physical disabilities, asthma, ear infection, hearing loss

• Lower nutritional intake

• Exposure to toxins

HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES

The brain on the right has been exposed to lead

IQ AND POVERTY• Students in poverty score on average 9 points

lower on IQ tests.

• Payne states that this is due to lack of acquired knowledge consistent with middle class

• What are some other posibilities that we find IQ differences between different cultural groups and different SES groups?

IQ QUIZ• What is a bag sale?

• What does it mean to get krunked?

• What is a roach?

• You go to the bakery store, you can buy 5 loaves of day old bread for 39 cents each or 7 loaves of 3 day old bread for 28 cents each. Which choice will cost less?

IQ QUIZ• What is yellow tape and what is it used for?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of moving often?

IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS• 9 out of 10 students who have successfully left

poverty say that a relationship with another individual (e.g., teacher, counselor, etc.) made the difference to them

• A successful relationship occurs when emotional deposits are made to students and emotional withdrawals are avoided. This is true in any relationship.

BRAIN PLASTICITY• Increased Brain Stimulation

• Regrowth of Axons: Under certain circumstances, axons can grow and connect.

• Sprouting: Sprouting is a normal condition, as the brain is constantly adding new branches of axons and dendrites and withdrawing old ones. This process accelerates in response to damage and to stimulation.

• Reorganization of cognitive maps

• Learned adjustments in behaviors

CAN THESE EFFECTS BE REVERSED

• Many of the neurobiological effects are reversible•Structured instruction time• Limited television time•Problem solving taught as a skill•Enriched environments

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?• Recommendations for interventionsSubject Recommendations

ReadingMath

Writing

REFERENCESBurgess, A.W., Hartman, C.R., & Clements, P.T. (1995) The biology of memory and

childhood trauma. The Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services,

33(3), 16-26.

Delaney-Black V, Covington C, Ondersma SJ, Nordstrom-Klee B, Templin T, Ager J,

Janisse J, Sokol RJ. (2002) Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine.;156:280-285.

Diamond, A. & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in

children 4–12 years old. Science, 333 (6045), 959-964.

Duyme M, Dumaret AC, Tomkiewicz S (1999) How can we boost IQs of “dull

children”?:. A late adoption study. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences USA 96:

8790–8794

REFERENCESEvans, G.W. & Schamberg, M.A. (2009). Childhood poverty, chronic stress and adult working

memory. Proceeding of the Noational Academy of Sciences USA 106, no. 13

Hart, B., & Risley, T. (1995). Meaningful differences in everyday experience of young

American children. Baltimore: Paul Brookes Publishing Co., MD.

Hanson, J.L; Chandra, A; Wolfe, B.L; & Pollack, S. (2011). Association between income and the hippocampus.

PLoS One, 6 (5), e18712

Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind: What being poor does to kids' brains and what schools can do

about It. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development

Jensen, E. (2008) The effects of poverty on the brain. The Science Network Symposium. Brains RUs: the

Science of Educating, March 2008

REFERENCESKnudsen, E. I., Heckman, J. J., Cameron, J. L., and Shonkoff, J. P. (2006). Economic,

neurobiological, and behavioral perspectives on building America’s future workforce . Proceedings of

the National Academy of Sciences. v. 103, n. 27. 10155-10162.

Lupien, S. J., King, S., Meaney, M. J., & McEwen, B. S. (2001) Can poverty get under

your skin? basal cortisol levels and cognitive function in children from low and high

socioeconomic status. Developmental Psychopathology, 13(3), 653-676.

Raizada, R. D. S., and Kishiyama, M. M. (2010). Effects of socioeconomic status on brain development, and how

cognitive neuroscience may contribute to leveling the playing field. Fontiers in Human Neuroscience. v. 4 article

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Rosenfeld, L. B., Richman, J. M., & Bowen, G. L. (1998). Low social support among at risk adolescents. Social

Work In Education, 20, 245-260.

REFERENCESShonkoff JP, Phillips DA (2000) From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early

Childhood Development. (National Academy Press, Washington, DC).

Wasik, B. H., Ramey, C. T., Bryant, D. M., & Sparling, J. J. (1990). A longitudinal study

of two early intervention strategies: Project CARE. Child Development, 61(6), 1682-

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Jensen, E. (2008) The effects of poverty on the brain. The Science Network Symposium. Brains

RUs: the Science of Educating, March 2008

Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind: What being poor does to kids' brains and what

schools can do about It. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development