The Neurobiology of Poverty

We are increasingly aware that conditions in the first few years of a child’s life can influence their physical, emotional and mental health throughout their lifespans. This forum explores what is known about the life-long effects of growing up in poverty from two of the leading researchers in the field.

Child poverty and the income-achievement gap: Insights from cognitive neuroscience

Seth D. Pollak, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Pollak will present new studies of children whose families are living in poverty. These studies begin with infants just after birth and extend to adolescents in high school and beyond. Using both measures of children’s brain development, as well as educational and school records, the presentation will examine how the stressors associated with poverty may account for the educational achievement gap between impoverished and middle class children.

Poverty, allostatic load and the stress neuraxis: A mechanism or a bridge too far?

Megan Gunnar, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Professor Gunnar will review theories predicting that poverty and the stressors associated with it will impact the activity of stress-mediating systems. In turn, these systems help in explaining how poverty “gets under the skin” to influence life course trajectories of health and disease. She will then review the evidence available supporting these theories and point to the need for a “next generation” of stress research to better understand the role of poverty in human development.