Health

Giving cash to low-income mothers is associated with enhanced brain activity in their infants, Research Proposal


New research shows that giving extra money to low-income mothers can change the brain development of babies.

US researchers say brain measurements at age 1 show faster activity in key brain regions in infants from low-income families receiving an extra $300 monthly for a year, compared with children receiving $20 a month, US researchers said Monday.

Similar brain activity is associated with learning other skills and development in older children, although it is unclear whether the differences found persist or affect the children’s futures.

Researchers are investigating whether the payments lead to better nutrition, less stress for parents, or other benefits for babies. There are no limits on how the money is spent.
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Lead author, Dr Kimberly Noble, professor of neuroscience and education at the College of Education, Columbia University, said the results suggest that reducing poverty can directly affect brain development in children. Infant.

“The brain changes speak to the remarkable plasticity of the brain, especially during childhood,” she said.

While the researchers could not rule out that the difference in total brain activity in both groups was due to randomization, they did find a significant difference in the frontal region, which is related to learning skills and Thinking. Activity is about 20% more frequent in infants whose families receive larger amounts.

Co-author Katherine Magnuson, director of the National Institute of Poverty and Economic Mobility, based at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said the evidence-based finding suggests that cash aid can improve improved outcomes for older children.

It is also the first rigorous evidence of how payments can affect children in their early years, she said. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study recruited mothers shortly after giving birth to hospitals in four metropolitan areas: Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, New York City and Omaha. The women reported median household income of about $20,000 and were randomly assigned to receive either $333 or $20 per month on a debit card. Amounts are provided by private donors and recipients can spend as they please.

The larger cash payments in the study are similar to those distributed to low-income families during the pandemic in President Joe Biden’s child tax credit program, which ended last month.

Dr Joan Luby, professor of child psychiatry at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said the study “could not be more relevant to the present time”.

While the extension of the tax credit is uncertain, “this study should really inform Congress of its importance,” Luby said. She reviewed the study for scientific journals but was not involved in the study.

The mothers participating in the study were mostly black and Hispanic without a college degree. As the children neared their first birthday, the researchers went to the home to examine the children in person. Newborns wear special hats covered with electrodes that detect the electrical signals that brain cells use to communicate with each other.

Home visits have stopped because of the pandemic, so the researchers don’t have complete data on all 1,000 mothers who signed up as of 2018. They have reported results to 435 but hope to see results. continue home visits this year.

Research is ongoing and payments to families will continue until at least their child’s fourth birthday.

Natasha Pilkauskas, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, called it “a very important study,” but said more research is needed to confirm the results and see if they hold true for older children. infants or not.



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