Income and Material Hardship are not Related to Infant Brain Function at 1 Month of Age

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Biological Processes: Neuroscience and Genetics

Abstract

Socioeconomic disparities in functional brain development have been reported in the first year of life, though how early they emerge remains unclear (Farah, 2017). Research has reported no associations between socioeconomic circumstances (SES) and brain function at birth (Brito et al., 2016) or functional connectivity at 1 month of age (Gao et al., 2015). However, socioeconomic disparities in brain function have been reported between 6 and 12 months of age (Cantiani et al., 2019; Gao et. al, 2015; Tomalski et al., 2013). Taken together, these findings may suggest that socioeconomic disparities in brain function may not emerge until the second half of the first year of life, perhaps accounted for by differences in postnatal environments.

Additionally, the aforementioned research utilized distal SES measures (e.g., family income or parental education). Research investigating more proximal environmental mechanisms is necessary to better understand how specific experiences may contribute to socioeconomic disparities (Noble, 2015). Though related to income, material hardship (e.g., not having enough money for food, utilities, housing, or health care) is a distinct and more proximal measure that captures the experience of economic hardship across SES gradients (Gershoff et al., 2007; Lichtin et al., 2020).

The present study was a preliminary investigation into whether income or material hardship predicted functional brain differences in 42 socioeconomically, ethnically, and racially diverse 1-month-old infants (55% female; final sample size projected to be 200 mother-infant dyads). Based on evidence suggesting that socioeconomic disparities may not emerge until the second half of the first year of life, we hypothesized that income and material hardship would not be significantly associated with infant brain function, acknowledging limitations in statistical power in this preliminary dataset. An income-to-needs ratio was calculated for each family (ITN; household income divided by the federal poverty line for a family of that size). Parental education was included as a covariate and operationalized as the average of each parent’s educational level. Material hardship was measured using the Material Deprivation Scale (MDS), which assesses hardships such as affording bills, food, medical care, and adequate housing (Pilkauskas et al. 2012). Infant brain function was measured using resting EEG power (absolute and relative) in six frequency bands: theta (3-5 Hz), alpha (6-9 Hz), beta (13-19 Hz), low-gamma (21-30 Hz), and high-gamma (31-45 Hz). Consistent with our hypothesis, preliminary multiple regression analyses indicated that neither ITN nor material deprivation were significantly associated with absolute power (ITN: βs = .105-.177, ps = .277-.520; MDS: βs =.028-.081, ps = .617-.862) or relative power (ITN: βs = -.202-.087, ps = .212-.900; MDS: βs = -.178-.141, ps =.272-.989). Results did not markedly change when controlling for infant age and sex or average parental education. The absence of significant associations provides preliminary support for research suggesting that SES disparities in brain function may not emerge very early in infancy, again acknowledging limitations in statistical power. Future work will examine the same question longitudinally among a larger sample, at both 1-month and 12-months.

Authors

• Melissa A Giebler, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Presenting Author

• Katrina R Simon, Teachers college Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sonya V. Troller-Renfree, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shanitah E Young, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kimberly G Noble, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author