Early-life family socioeconomic and educational impacts on adult EEG and behavioral signatures of visual cognitive function

Socioeconomic and educational background is associated with individual differences in cognitive performance, yet how different socioeconomic indicators relate to adult brain function remains unclear. Using an open-access dataset, we analyzed electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral data from 73 young adults performing the flanker and visual search tasks. Event-related potentials (P1, P2, N2, and P3) and alpha-beta band time-frequency features were extracted to characterize sensory processing, cognitive control, and attentional engagement. Four socioeconomic indicators were examined: subjective family socioeconomic status (SES), household income, parental education, and participants' own educational attainment. Behaviorally, higher household income was associated with faster reaction times and higher accuracy. Neurally, parental education was associated with ERP latencies during the flanker task, whereas subjective family SES was associated with alpha-beta event-related desynchronization during the visual search task. Canonical correlation analysis revealed a significant multivariate association between socioeconomic indicators and a latent neurobehavioral profile, with parental education and household income showing stronger relative contributions. Together, these results indicate that distinct socioeconomic dimensions are differentially associated with behavioral performance and electrophysiological markers of visual cognition in young adulthood.