Studies currently emerging in the U.S. are showing that grow in a low-income family can have a direct impact on the organization and function of the brain. Were in fact observed in children raised in poor families, some difficulties in the formation of memories and attention, hypersensitivity to stress, and problems in the approach to gratification. It seems, however, that education heartfelt affection of parents to counter many of the negative effects of poverty of the family.
In a recent research project, Martha Farah and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania (http://www.neuroethics.upenn.edu/) found that pupils of a kindergarten from low-income households, as compared to children of middle and upper classes, functions in impoverished parts of the brain involved in reading activities, language and "executive control." Executive control includes skills such as working memory (eg. Remember a number of phone dials properly after some time) and the ability to suppress impulsive behavior (eg. responding to a challenge calmly and verbally, rather than lash out in anger against the other party).
To avoid prejudices of race, the group of Prof. Farah examined only African-American children from poor families and middle class, and one of the conclusions was that some of the major difficulties found in children with economic problems, such example, difficulties in concentration, seem to have a strong environmental component. In the long run, the inability to manage the distraction could cause further and deeper problems. The value of physical and mental health, education ricevuta e della capacità di focalizzare l’attenzione è oggi fondamentale nella nostra società, e la concentrazione e le abilità linguistiche sono necessarie per poter avere successo.
La povertà infantile può anche avere effetti duraturi sul cervello.
In un altro recente studio condotto dal ricercatore Peter Gianaros, dell'Università di Pittsburgh (pmbcii.psy.cmu.edu/) è emerso che gli studenti dei primi due anni di università provenienti da famiglie di basso livello nella scala socio-economica sono più propensi ad avere forti reazioni emotive guardando fotografie di volti minacciosi rispetto a studenti provenienti da famiglie ricche.
Il compito è stato eseguito in concomitanza con l’analisi brain of the subjects, performed with a scanner for functional magnetic resonance imaging, to identify parts of the brain most active during the experiment. Well, students from low socio-economic status showed increased activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes the more negative emotions and stress. In a second study, the team of Dr. Gianaros found that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds have less brain tissue in the anterior cingulate cortex, one of the frontal regions of the brain that controls emotional impulses.
Of course, experience shows that even in very poor families, some children are much more resistant than others (also state that studies conducted by Dr. and Dr. Mezzacappa. John Buckner in Boston): Get better results in school, relate well with their peers and are much less likely to get into trouble.
What researchers now want to prove, however, is that the negative effects of a degraded socio-cultural context may have effects not only on the behavior of children in the short term but also long-term, with important consequences for their brain function. Our brain, in fact, is not fixed, stable, but has enormous plasticity and is constantly evolving, absorbing elements from the environment to a level that always leaves more amazed.
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