Societal Inequality Linked to Structural Changes in Children’s Brains

Societal Inequality Linked to Structural Changes in Children’s Brains
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A new study has established a direct link between living in a highly unequal society and structural changes in children’s brains, suggesting that reducing inequality is not just an economic measure but a “public health imperative.”

According to The Guardian, the groundbreaking research, which analyzed MRI scans of over 10,000 young people in the U.S. using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, found that children living in areas with high societal inequality—regardless of their family’s wealth—showed altered brain development.

Researchers from King’s College London, Harvard University, and the University of York found that children living in areas with higher socioeconomic imbalances were linked to having a reduced surface area of the brain’s cortex and altered connections between multiple brain regions. The cortex is crucial for higher cognitive functions such as memory, emotion, attention, and language.

Crucially, these changes were observed in children from both wealthy and lower-income families residing in unequal areas. Dr. Divyangana Rakesh of King’s College London emphasized that the study focused on how income is distributed in society, not just individual family income.

The findings also provided evidence that these altered neurodevelopmental structures are linked to future poorer mental health outcomes, including increased rates of depression and anxiety, observed in the children six to 18 months after the scans.