What is it about?
Many socioeconomic factors can impact brain development, and families rarely face one challenge at a time. This study collected EEG data from infants (293 infants, 667 EEGs) during well-child visits in a primary care clinic serving families with elevated rates of poverty and stress. Using a network-based statistical approach to understand how socioeconomic and psychosocial factors are associated with brain development, we found that caregivers who reported income insufficiency were more likely to experience lower education, higher stress, and more adverse life events. Controlling for these factors, income insufficiency was specifically associated with delayed brain development. Infants whose caregivers reported that income was "never" or "rarely" sufficient showed significantly slower maturation in alpha and beta activity, features known to track with early brain development and later cognitive functioning.
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Why is it important?
We provide a novel framework for understanding and visualizing how early adversity can impact neurodevelopment. Our findings underscore the potential importance of policies and supports that help families meet basic needs during a critical window of early brain development.
Perspectives
Writing this article was a wonderful and scientifically invigorating collaboration amongst co-authors. We are grateful to all the families who participated and who continue to participate in this ongoing longitudinal study. The sobering findings have pushed us to think deeply about the stressors and psychosocial hardship that many families face, and how we can better understand their impact on child development in order to inform policies and interventions to help children thrive.
Carol Wilkinson
Children's Hospital Boston
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Income insufficiency impacts early brain development in infants facing increased psychosocial adversity: A network-based approach, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2513598123.
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