Impact of socioeconomic status and parental stress on infant regional brain development

Motivation: Human brain development is suggested to rely on a complex interplay between biological and environmental factors. For the latter, socioeconomic status (SES) and parental stress can significantly impact the development of cognitive and social skills. However, their links to infant brain development are not well understood. Goal(s): Our goal is to identify regional brain development critically affected by environmental influences. Approach: High-resolution structural MRI of 95 infants aged 0-22 months, and the corresponding SES, and parental perceived stress scales (PSS) were utilized to investigate how they are associated. Results: Higher SES is associated with larger volumes in prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. Impact: The significant, positive correlations between socioeconomic status and prefrontal cortical, inferior frontal gyral volume underscore environmental impact on brain development during the critical period of infancy. Further investigation of brain regions related to emotion, executive function, and memory is warranted.