Socioeconomic status and the developing brain – A systematic review of neuroimaging findings in youth

Abstract

A growing literature has shown associations between socioeconomic disadvantage and neural properties (such as brain structure and function). In this review, we aimed to synthesize findings on the neural correlates of socioeconomic status (SES) in youth samples across neuroimaging modalities. We also aimed to disentangle the effects of different SES measures (e.g., parent income and education) in our synthesis. We found relatively consistent patterns of positive associations between SES and both volume and cortical surface area of frontal regions, and amygdala, hippocampal, and striatal volume (with most consistent results for composite SES indices). Despite limited longitudinal work, results..