SUBSCRIBE NOW
LOGIN
News > Science
Poverty changes your brain to make you less intelligent, study suggests
Researchers find link between low incomes and poorer brain function and say the stress of life with little money could be part of the reason; there is ‘little evidence’ to suggest falling intelligence pushes people into poverty, they add
Ian Johnston Science Correspondent @montaukian
Tuesday 27 September 2016 17:56
46 comments
Getty
Falling into poverty appears to make people become less intelligent and become old before their time, according to a new study.
Researchers found life on the breadline for 20 years was “strongly associated” with “worse cognitive function” and premature aging.
And they suggested the potential causes of this phenomenon included the stress of having little money, inadequate housing and sanitation, and an unhealthy lifestyle – a poor diet, smoking, alcohol and too little exercise.
Writing in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, researchers led by Professor Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, of Miami University, said the trend was found even among highly educated people who fell on hard times.
Read more
The gender pay gap means that more women will be in poverty later in life – but there is something the government can do
Government’s £1.3bn attempt to tackle crime and poverty had ‘no discernible impact’, says report ministers tried to bury
Poverty costs UK £78bn a year in pressure on hospitals and social services, research finds
Poverty is the new normal for middle-income earners
This, they argued, means it is unlikely that people who are becoming less intelligent for some other reason are falling into poverty.
The researchers studied information about 3,400 adults who took part in a study on heart disease. They were all 18 to 30 when the project began in 1985.
As part of that study, details about their income were recorded and they were also given tests used to detect what is known as “cognitive aging”.
Read more
Read more This is what happens to your brain when you stop exercising
What the researchers found was that people who lived continually in poverty “performed significantly worse” than those who had never had to survive on a low income in tests of verbal memory, the brain’s processing speed and its executive function.
“The overall magnitude of the associations suggests that economic adversities experienced in young adulthood are important determinants of cognitive health in midlife,” the paper said.
“From a mechanistic perspective, economic hardship may be on the pathway and an important contributor to clinically significant cognitive deficit and premature aging among economically disadvantaged individuals.
Independent news email
Enter your email address
Continue
Register with your social account or click here to log in
I would like to receive morning headlines
Monday – Friday plus breaking news alerts by email
“Furthermore, in analyses restricted to participants with a high level of education, significant associations were still observed, suggesting little evidence that reverse causation could explain these findings.”
Science news in pictures
Show all 20
Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum
Jackdaws can identify ‘dangerous’ humans
Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking
Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa
They put forward four different possible “pathways” in which poverty could affect people’s brains.
“First, exposure to low income and socioeconomic conditions has been associated with unhealthy behaviours, such as alcohol use, smoking, and inadequate physical activity, which are in turn risk factors for small brain infarcts and poor cognition,” the paper said.
“Second, exposure to low income may influence educational attainment and ultimately shape many of the risk factors of cognition, including adult living environment (inadequate housing and sanitation), health behaviours, and access to resources.
“Third, the stress of exposure to low income has been shown to be associated with dysfunction of the hypothalamic adrenocortical axis [glands inside the brain], which in turn is a pathway leading to worse risk factors of cognition.
“Fourth, income inequality may suggest a lack in public investment and health infrastructure, which then influence health through stress-induced mechanisms and decreased social and physical resources.”
MORE ABOUT
INTELLIGENCE | POVERTY | BRAIN
Show 46 comments
Promoted stories
Become a permanent resident of Canada. Apply now!
Canadian Visa Professionals
Moving to Canada is The best choice for you and your family!
Canada Immigration Express
This betting website can always suprise you!! Register now and start to win!
msports
Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Totally Surprise You
Villas for Sale in Dubai | Search Ads
Unique hair colour trends for black women in 2019
Black Hair Hub
SUV Costs in Nigeria Might Actually Amaze You
SUVs | Search Ads
Work From Home Jobs Might Earn You More Than You Think
Work From Home | Search Ads
London Real Estate Prices Might Surprise You
Real Estate | Search Ads
by TaboolaSponsored Links
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
Join the discussion
Loading comments…
GET IN TOUCH
Contact us
Jobs
OUR PRODUCTS
Subscriptions
Install our apps
Archive
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Evening Standard
Novaya Gazeta
EXTRAS
All topics
Voucher codes
Advertising guide
Syndication
LEGAL
Code of conduct and complaints
Contributors
Cookie policy
Privacy notice
User policies
