Table 3 Neuroimaging studies of poverty.

Butterworth et al. [102]

Australia

431 participants from PATH study

46.7 (0.07; 44–48)

65.8%

Financial hardship questions

Cross sectional

Covariates: age, sex

Current financial hardship was associated with smaller left and right hippocampal and amygdala volumes

Chan et al. [103]

USA

304 participants

20–59

60.7%

Family income

Cross sectional

Covariates: age, sex, childhood SES, mental health and cognitive ability

Current SES was related to segregation of large-scale functional brain networks and thinner mean cortical grey matter.

Noble et al. [94]

USA

1099 participants from PING study

11.9 (4.9; 3–20)

48.3%

Family income

Cross sectional

Covariates: age, sex, scanner site, and genetic ancestry factor

In children from lower income families, even small differences in income were linked to significant differences in surface area, whereas in children from higher income families, similar income changes were associated with smaller differences in surface area.

Kim et al. [98]

USA

7569 participants from the ABCD cohort

9.91 (0.52; 9–10)

47.5%

Income-to-needs ratio

Cross sectional

Covariates: sex, race, parental educational level, study site, baseline psychiatric problems

Living in poverty was associated with less cortical surface area in the left superior temporal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, right lateral occipital cortex, and right middle frontal gyrus.

And smaller cortical volumes in the left superior temporal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, lateral occipital cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, right lateral occipital cortex, transverse temporal gyrus, and rostral middle frontal gyrus.

White et al. [105]

USA

172 participants

13.49 (0.52; 12–15)

65.7%

Income-to-needs ratio

Cross sectional

Covariates: age, sex, race

Larger response in brain regions implicated in attention to reward and loss cues and to reward and loss feedback.

Javanbakth et al. [100]

USA

52 participants from longitudinal cohort

23.6 (1.2; 22–25)

46.1%

Income-to-needs ratio

Longitudinal

Covariates: age, sex

Childhood poverty, independent of concurrent adult income, was associated with higher amygdala and medial prefrontal cortical and with decreased left amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity.

Luby et al. [93]

USA

145 participants from Preschool Depression cohort

9.78 (1.29; 6–12)

51%

Income-to-needs ratio

Longitudinal

Covariates: age, sex, pubertal status, history of psychiatric disorders and psychotropic medication use 

Poverty was associated with smaller cortical grey matter and hippocampal and amygdala volumes. 

Hair et al. [99]

USA

389 participants from Normal Brain Development cohort

12 (4–22)

52.5%

Income-to-needs ratio

Longitudinal

Covariates: birth weight, race, family size, and maternal education.

Children from poor families had structural differences in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and hippocampus. 

Kim et al. [101]

USA

49 participants from longitudinal cohort

Poverty measured at 9 years.

MRI at 24

Family income

Longitudinal

Covariates: Current income

Adults with lower family income at age 9 exhibited reduced ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity and failure to suppress amygdala activation at age 24.

Hair et al. [99]

USA

486 participants from Normal Brain Development cohort

10.1 (5.54; 0–20)

51.9%

Income

Longitudinal

Covariates: birth weight, site

Structural differences in grey matter development for children living in or near poverty, first detected during childhood (age 2.5–6.5 years), evolve throughout adolescence.

McDermott et al. [95]

USA

623 participants from longitudinal cohort

First scan: 12 (4; 5.2–25.4)

47.9%

Hollingshead SES scale

Longitudinal

Covariates: age, sex

Higher SES is associated with areal expansion of lateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate, lateral temporal, and superior parietal cortices and ventrolateral thalamic, and medial amygdalo-hippocampal subregions.