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The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Troller-Renfree, SV; Costanzo, MA; Duncan, GJ; Magnuson, K; Gennetian, LA; Yoshikawa, H; Halpern-Meekin, S; Fox, NA; Noble, KG
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
February 2022

Early childhood poverty is a risk factor for lower school achievement, reduced earnings, and poorer health, and has been associated with differences in brain structure and function. Whether poverty causes differences in neurodevelopment, or is merely associated with factors that cause such differences, remains unclear. Here, we report estimates of the causal impact of a poverty reduction intervention on brain activity in the first year of life. We draw data from a subsample of the Baby's First Years study, which recruited 1,000 diverse low-income mother-infant dyads. Shortly after giving birth, mothers were randomized to receive either a large or nominal monthly unconditional cash gift. Infant brain activity was assessed at approximately 1 y of age in the child's home, using resting electroencephalography (EEG; n = 435). We hypothesized that infants in the high-cash gift group would have greater EEG power in the mid- to high-frequency bands and reduced power in a low-frequency band compared with infants in the low-cash gift group. Indeed, infants in the high-cash gift group showed more power in high-frequency bands. Effect sizes were similar in magnitude to many scalable education interventions, although the significance of estimates varied with the analytic specification. In sum, using a rigorous randomized design, we provide evidence that giving monthly unconditional cash transfers to mothers experiencing poverty in the first year of their children's lives may change infant brain activity. Such changes reflect neuroplasticity and environmental adaptation and display a pattern that has been associated with the development of subsequent cognitive skills.

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Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

February 2022

Volume

119

Issue

5

Start / End Page

e2115649119

Related Subject Headings

  • Rural Population
  • Poverty
  • Nutritional Status
  • Mothers
  • Male
  • Infant
  • Income
  • Humans
  • Food Supply
  • Female
 

Citation

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Troller-Renfree, S. V., Costanzo, M. A., Duncan, G. J., Magnuson, K., Gennetian, L. A., Yoshikawa, H., … Noble, K. G. (2022). The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(5), e2115649119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115649119
Troller-Renfree, Sonya V., Molly A. Costanzo, Greg J. Duncan, Katherine Magnuson, Lisa A. Gennetian, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Nathan A. Fox, and Kimberly G. Noble. “The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 119, no. 5 (February 2022): e2115649119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115649119.
Troller-Renfree SV, Costanzo MA, Duncan GJ, Magnuson K, Gennetian LA, Yoshikawa H, et al. The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2022 Feb;119(5):e2115649119.
Troller-Renfree, Sonya V., et al. “The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 119, no. 5, Feb. 2022, p. e2115649119. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.2115649119.
Troller-Renfree SV, Costanzo MA, Duncan GJ, Magnuson K, Gennetian LA, Yoshikawa H, Halpern-Meekin S, Fox NA, Noble KG. The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2022 Feb;119(5):e2115649119.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

February 2022

Volume

119

Issue

5

Start / End Page

e2115649119

Related Subject Headings

  • Rural Population
  • Poverty
  • Nutritional Status
  • Mothers
  • Male
  • Infant
  • Income
  • Humans
  • Food Supply
  • Female