Socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood is associated with deleterious effects on cognitive development and academic achievement, which in turn have long-lasting ramifications for numerous physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. Yet, our understanding of the experiential, physiological, and neural pathways through which socioeconomic disparities shape developmental processes is just beginning to emerge. This talk will discuss how distal socioeconomic factors operate through more proximate factors such as the home language environment and perceived and physiologic stress, and how these proximate factors shape the development of distinct neural and cognitive systems. Implications for interventional strategies will be discussed.
Kimberly Noble, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She received her undergraduate, graduate, and medical degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. As a neuroscientist and board-certified pediatrician, she studies how socioeconomic inequality relates to in children's cognitive and brain development. Her work examines both brain and cognitive development across infancy, childhood, and adolescence. She is particularly interested in understanding how early in childhood such disparities develop, the modifiable environmental differences that account for these disparities, and the ways we might harness this research to inform the design of interventions. Noble has served as the principal investigator or Co-PI on several federal and foundation grants. She was named a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science, and recently was named a 2017 APS Janet Taylor Spence Award winner for Transformative Early Career Contributions. Her work linking family income to brain structure across childhood and adolescence has received worldwide attention in the popular press.