title: Neuroanatomical correlates of the income-achievement gap.
abstract: In the United States, the difference in academic achievement between higher- and lower-income students (i.e., the income-achievement gap) is substantial and growing. In the research reported here, we investigated neuroanatomical correlates of this gap in adolescents (N = 58) in whom academic achievement was measured by statewide standardized testing. Cortical gray-matter volume was significantly greater in students from higher-income backgrounds (n = 35) than in students from lower-income backgrounds (n = 23), but cortical white-matter volume and total cortical surface area did not differ significantly between groups. Cortical thickness in all lobes of the brain was greater in students from higher-income than lower-income backgrounds. Greater cortical thickness, particularly in temporal and occipital lobes, was associated with better test performance. These results represent the first evidence that cortical thickness in higher- and lower-income students differs across broad swaths of the brain and that cortical thickness is related to scores on academic-achievement tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology amackey@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Allyson P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Mackey
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
authors.forename: Amy S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.affiliation: Columbia Business School.
authors.forename: Drew S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jacoby-Senghor
authors.affiliation: Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University.
authors.forename: Martin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University Transforming Education, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Christopher F O
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Gabrieli
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University.
authors.forename: John D E
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gabrieli
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000066494:Cognitive Neuroscience; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D013334:Students; D014481:United States
keywords: academic achievement; adolescent development; brain; cognitive neuroscience