Abstract
Family income is associated with gray matter morphometry in children, but little is known about the relationship between family income and white matter structure. In this paper, using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, a whole brain, voxel-wise approach, we examined the relationship between family income (assessed by income-to-needs ratio) and white matter organization in middle childhood (N = 27, M = 8.66 years). Results from a non-parametric, voxel-wise, multiple regression (threshold-free cluster enhancement, p < 0.05 FWE corrected) indicated that lower family income was associated with lower white matter organization [assessed by fractional anisotropy (FA)] for several clusters in white matter tracts involved in cognitive and emotional functions including fronto-limbic circuitry (uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle), association fibers (inferior longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus), and corticospinal tracts. Further, we examined the possibility that cumulative risk (CR) exposure might function as one of the potential pathways by which family income influences neural outcomes. Using multiple regressions, we found lower FA in portions of these tracts, including those found in the left cingulum bundle and left superior longitudinal fasciculus, was significantly related to greater exposure to CR (β = -0.47, p < 0.05 and β = -0.45, p < 0.05).
Highlights
Socioeconomic disadvantage has adverse effects on multiple aspects of the cognitive and psychological development of children
A statistically significant difference was found for income-to-needs ratio (INR) between ethnicities as determined by a one-way ANOVA, F(3,23) = 3.13, p < 0.05
We examined the relationship between family income and white matter organization in middle childhood by using a whole brain, voxel-wise approach
Summary
Socioeconomic disadvantage has adverse effects on multiple aspects of the cognitive and psychological development of children. The search for plausible biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and child developmental outcomes has begun to examine brain development (Hertzman, 1999). Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it is possible to examine the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage, and macrostructural and microstructural variations in the brain. The neuroimaging literature investigating the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and brain structure has primarily focused on gray matter (Hanson et al, 2011, 2015b; Luby et al, 2013; Noble et al, 2015). Less is known about the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and white matter structure in the brain. The current study investigated the relationship between family income and white matter organization in children
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