The Effect of Left-Behind Experience on Inhibitory Control in Elementary School Children: An fNIRS Comparative Study

• In Event: Effects of Early Experience and Intervention on Children’s Brain Development: Empirical Insights and Educational Implications

Abstract

Background
Early experiences significantly influence the development of children's brain structure and function. Previous research has shown that early toxic stress, such as parental neglect and emotional deprivation, can result in abnormal brain development, including reduced cortical thickness and impaired prefrontal cortex function (Fu et al., 2019; Ding et al., 2021; 2023). In China, rapid economic growth and modernization have increased the number of left-behind children (LBC) who experience physiological and mental issues. The existing LBC studies primarily focused on behavioral assessments or resting-state brain explorations, with limited task-based brain research. Furthermore, studies examining the relationship between these children's brain development and academic performance are notably scarce.
Objectives
This study investigated the effects of left-behind experiences on children's executive function using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and assessed the relationship between brain function and academic performance. The study examined three hypotheses: (1) significant brain activation differences would be observed among the three Stroop task conditions (neutral, word, color); (2) significant brain activation differences would exist among the three groups of left-behind children during the Stroop task; and (3) there would be a correlation between children’s brain activation and their academic performance.
Methods
Sixty-two primary school children (45 boys, 10.10 ± 0.47 years) from a left-behind boarding school were classified into three groups based on their living situations: Non-left-behind children (NLBC; N=10, 10.11 ± 0.60 years), Partially-left-behind children (PLBC; N=23, 10.17 ± 0.49 years), and Left-behind children (LBC; N=29, 10.03 ± 0.42 years). Their executive function was assessed using fNIRS and behavioral measures during a Stroop task.
Findings
The study’s findings include: (1) Brain activation in the Stroop task word condition (ST2) was significantly higher than in the color condition (ST3) across all four regions (p(A)=0.018; p(B)=0.012; p(C)=0.006; p(D)=0.013); (2) Brain activation of P-LBC was significantly higher than LBC in both Region B (p=0.006) and Region C (p=0.01). Additionally, brain activation of PLBC was higher than NLBC in the neutral condition (ST1) (p=0.004) and higher than LBC in the word condition (ST2) in Region B (p=0.044). (3) The Chinese language score of participants was negatively correlated with brain activation in Region D during ST1 (r(62)=-0.333, p=0.009), while the mathematics score was positively related to ACC activation during ST3 (r(62)=0.373, p=0.003).
Implications
These findings provide biological evidence of how deprived childhood experiences compromise LBC's brain function and, consequently, influence their academic achievement. Notably, the highest brain activation observed in PLBC suggests that quality parenting (one parent staying at home to care for the child while the other works outside the home) may offer a viable solution to mitigate issues faced by left-behind children.

Authors

• Ding Keya, Shanghai Normal University

• Yining SHEN, Shanghai Normal University

• Xinyi Dong, Shanghai Normal University

• Dandan Wu, The Education University of Hong Kong

• Hui Li, The Education University of Hong Kong