Bridging the Gap: The Connections Between the Socioeconomic Disparities in Early Childhood Language Exposure, Brain Structure and Executive Function

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been repeatedly shown to predict executive functioning skills in young children (Ben-Asher et al., 2024; Last et al., 2018). Given its association with academic achievement, executive function (EF) skills have been identified as a potential intervention to help close the income achievement gap. The current study aimed to better understand the established SES disparity in EF, evaluating its connection with the well-documented SES disparities in language exposure (Cartmill et al., 2013; Gilkerson et al., 2017; Hoff, 2003; Rowe, 2008; Vernon-Feagans et al., 2008) and brain structure (Jednoróg et al., 2012; Lawson et al., 2013; Rakesh & Whittle, 2021). A sample of 75 children aged 5-6 years old was evaluated at the initial time point. 33 of the original participants completed a follow-up portion of the study when they were 7-10 years old. The current study replicated results indicating SES disparities in language exposure, brain structure and EF and identified novel and replicated connections between these variables. The cortical structures of the left lingual gyrus, right fusiform gyrus and left superior temporal region were found to be associated with language exposure quantity and EF separately. Additionally, the current study identified preliminary findings indicating that language exposure quantity and quality may be differently associated with EF and brain structure. Based on the results of the current and prior research, SES disparities in language exposure, brain structure and EF appear to be connected. However, future research is needed to understand these intertwined associations.