Several aspects of the proposal, which aims to expand open access, require serious discussion and, in some cases, a rethink.
Image credit: Dave Cutler (artist).
New Research In
Physical Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Biological Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
-
Edited by Bruce S. McEwen, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, and approved February 24, 2009 (received for review November 22, 2008)
Abstract
The income–achievement gap is a formidable societal problem, but little is known about either neurocognitive or biological mechanisms that might account for income-related deficits in academic achievement. We show that childhood poverty is inversely related to working memory in young adults. Furthermore, this prospective relationship is mediated by elevated chronic stress during childhood. Chronic stress is measured by allostatic load, a biological marker of cumulative wear and tear on the body that is caused by the mobilization of multiple physiological systems in response to chronic environmental demands.
Footnotes
- 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:gwe1{at}cornell.edu
-
Author contributions: G.W.E. designed research; M.A.S. performed research; G.W.E. and M.A.S. analyzed data; and G.W.E. and M.A.S. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory
Sign up for Article Alerts
Jump to section
You May Also be Interested in
Several large or long-lived animals seem strangely resistant to developing cancer. Elucidating the reasons why could lead to promising cancer-fighting strategies in humans.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com/ronnybas frimages.
PNAS Profile of NAS member and biochemist Hao Wu
A study suggests a putative gene-expression hallmark common to monogamous male vertebrates of some species, namely cichlid fishes, dendrobatid frogs, passeroid songbirds, common voles, and deer mice, and identifies 24 candidate genes potentially associated with monogamy.
Image courtesy of Yusan Yang (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh).
Physical and social well-being in old age are linked to self-assessments of life worth, and a spectrum of behavioral, economic, health, and social variables may influence whether aging individuals believe they are leading meaningful lives.
Image courtesy of Pixabay/MabelAmber.
More Articles of This Classification
Related Content
Cited by...
- Effect of childhood coeliac disease on ninth grade school performance: evidence from a population-based study
- How evolutionary thinking can help us to understand ADHD
- Low lifetime stress exposure is associated with reduced stimulus-response memory
- Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement
- State of the Art Review: Poverty and the Developing Brain
- Effects of childhood poverty and chronic stress on emotion regulatory brain function in adulthood
- The Impoverished Brain: Disparities in Maternal Education Affect the Neural Response to Sound
- Childhood Poverty and Blood Pressure Reactivity to and Recovery From an Acute Stressor in Late Adolescence: The Mediating Role of Family Conflict
- Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function
- Cluster (School) RCT of ParentCorps: Impact on Kindergarten Academic Achievement
- Early childhood poverty, immune-mediated disease processes, and adult productivity
- Toward a new biology of social adversity
- Structural Variations in Prefrontal Cortex Mediate the Relationship between Early Childhood Stress and Spatial Working Memory
- Physiologic Dysfunction Scores and Cognitive Function Test Performance in US Adults
- Forebrain CRF1 Modulates Early-Life Stress-Programmed Cognitive Deficits
- Boy, You've Got to Carry That Weight (a Long Time) . . .