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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.09.16.460710

Exploring neural correlates of behavioral and academic resilience among children in poverty

Ellwood-Lowe, M. E.·Irving, C. N.·Bunge, S. A.
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Abstract

Children in poverty must contend with systems that do not meet their needs. We explored what, at a neural level, helps explain childrens resilience in these contexts. Lower coupling between lateral frontoparietal network (LFPN) and default mode network (DMN)--linked, respectively, to externally- and internally-directed thought--has previously been associated with better cognitive performance. However, we recently found the opposite pattern for children in poverty. Here, we probed ecologically-valid assessments of performance. In a pre-registered study, we investigated trajectories of network coupling over ages 9-13 and their relation to school grades and attention problems. We analyzed longitudinal data from ABCD Study (N=8366 children at baseline; 1303 below poverty). The link between cognitive performance and grades was weaker for children in poverty, highlighting the importance of ecologically-valid measures. As predicted, higher LFPN-DMN connectivity was linked to worse grades and attentional problems for children living above poverty, while children below poverty showed opposite tendencies. This interaction between LFPN-DMN connectivity and poverty related to childrens grades two years later; however, it was attenuated when controlling for baseline grades and was not related to attention longitudinally. Together, these findings suggest network connectivity is differentially related to performance in real-world settings for children above and below poverty.

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Ellwood-Lowe, M. E., Irving, C. N., Bunge, S. A.. 2021-09-22. Exploring neural correlates of behavioral and academic resilience among children in poverty. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.16.460710

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