Rich and poor children use brains differently

William Atkins
Sunday, 04 January 2009 21:47

Science - Biology

For the first time, a scientific study, which was performed in the United States, has identified that the brains of low-income children work, on average, less efficiently than the brains of high-income children when performing problem-solving tasks. The good news is that the difference can be corrected.


Researchers from the University of California (Berkeley) wrote a paper that will soon be published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

The scientists studied 26 nine and ten year old children whose only difference (after eliminating extraneous factors) was their socioeconomic status (some were poor and others rich).

The children were selected from a larger group of children participating in the WINKS (Wellness in Kids) study.

The children were divided into two groups (rich and poor). They were asked to recognize shapes as part of the experiment while hooked up to an electroencephalograph.

The researchers measured brain activity while each child was working on a simple task of watching a sequence of triangles on a computer screen.

The subjects were then asked to click a button when a slightly different triangle (as compared with the other triangles) flashed on the screen.

In other cases, the children were asked to identify a photo of, for instance, a puppy or the cartoon character Mickey Mouse.

Page two continues with the discussion.