Boy, You’ve Got to Carry That Weight (a Long Time) . . .

Childhood poverty increases allostatic load and decreases memory.

The biological mechanisms for the link between poverty and academic achievement are unknown. Researchers in a longitudinal study of rural poverty and child development examined whether this link is explained by chronic exposure to stress, which can impair functioning of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Allostatic load — blood pressure, body-mass index, and overnight urine epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol levels — was measured in 195 white subjects at ages 9 and 13 (50% male). The authors described allostatic load as an “index of cumulative wear and tear . . . caused by repeated mobilizations of multiple physiological systems . . . in response to environmental demand.” Working memory was measured at age 17.

Half of the particip…

Reviewing Author

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Boy, You’ve Got to Carry That Weight (a Long Time) . . .

Topics

Reviewing Author