ABSTRACT

It is now established that socioeconomic variables are associated with cognitive, academic achievement, and psychiatric outcomes. Recent years have shown the advance in our understanding of how socioeconomic status (SES) relates to brain development in the first years of life (ages 0–5 years). However, it remains unknown which neural structures and functions are most sensitive to the environmental experiences associated with SES. Pubmed, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar databases from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2019, were systematically searched using terms “Neural” OR “Neuroimaging” OR “Brain” OR “Brain development,” AND “Socioeconomic” OR “SES” OR “Income” OR “Disadvantage” OR “Education,” AND “Early childhood” OR “Early development”. Nineteen studies were included in the full review after applying all exclusion criteria. Studies revealed associations between socioeconomic and neural measures and indicated that, in the first years of life, certain neural functions and structures (e.g., those implicated in language and executive function) may be more sensitive to socioeconomic context than others. Findings broadly support the hypothesis that SES associations with neural structure and function operate on a gradient. Socioeconomic status is reflected in neural architecture and function of very young children, as early as shortly after birth, with its effects possibly growing throughout early childhood as a result of postnatal experiences. Although socioeconomic associations with neural measures were relatively consistent across studies, results from this review are not conclusive enough to supply a neural phenotype of low SES. Further work is necessary to understand causal mechanisms underlying SES-brain associations.

摘要

现在已经确定，社会经济变量与认知、学业成就和精神病学结果有关。近年来，我们对社会经济地位 (SES) 如何与生命最初几年（0-5 岁）的大脑发育相关的理解有了进步。然而，尚不清楚哪些神经结构和功能对与 SES 相关的环境体验最敏感。Pubmed、PsycInfo 和 Google Scholar 数据库从 2000 年 1 月 1 日到 2019 年 12 月 31 日，使用术语“神经”或“神经成像”或“大脑”或“大脑发育”和“社会经济”或“SES”进行了系统搜索或“收入”或“劣势”或“教育”，以及“幼儿期”或“早期发展”。在应用所有排除标准后，19 项研究被纳入全面审查。研究揭示了社会经济和神经测量之间的关联，并表明在生命的最初几年，某些神经功能和结构（例如，与语言和执行功能有关的那些）可能比其他神经功能和结构对社会经济背景更敏感。研究结果广泛支持 SES 与神经结构和功能的关联在梯度上运行的假设。早在出生后不久，社会经济地位就反映在幼儿的神经结构和功能中，并且由于产后经历，其影响可能会在整个幼儿期增长。尽管在研究中与神经测量的社会经济关联相对一致，但本次审查的结果不足以提供低 SES 的神经表型。