A new study from Boston Medical Center (BMC) shows that growing up in neighborhoods with more educational and socioeconomic opportunities positively affects infant brain activity. The study, published in The Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, suggests that improving neighborhood opportunities, especially in education, could be a promising approach to fostering early child development.

A team of early childhood researchers examined how neighborhood opportunities – socioeconomic, educational, health, and environmental conditions relevant to children's health and development – affect infant brain activity and cognitive development. The researchers found that infants in neighborhoods with more opportunities have greater brain function at six months of age. In areas with better educational opportunities, these brain differences are associated with better cognition at twelve months.

“This study highlights that even in infancy, neighborhoods impact children's development. Our findings suggest that focusing on neighborhood opportunities, such as increasing access to high-quality education, can promote children's neurological development,” said Dr. Mei Elansary, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at BMC and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University.

The researchers collected data from 65 infants in shared pediatric practices in areas of Boston and Los Angeles. The team investigated whether the associations between neighborhood opportunities and children's cognitive development at twelve months could be explained by differences in brain activity at six months, measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Cognitive development was measured using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), a standardized developmental assessment based on play.

Elansary and her colleagues found that higher levels of neighborhood opportunities were associated with greater absolute EEG power in the mid and high-frequency bands in six-month-old infants. These EEG measurements were linked to better language and cognitive outcomes later in childhood, suggesting a neuroprotective role of living in higher opportunity neighborhoods early in life.

The team also found that higher levels of educational opportunities were particularly associated with better MSEL scores. This means that neighborhoods with more educational opportunities, such as high-quality care centers, can provide more resources for engaging children in cognitively stimulating activities and enhancing their development.

“Previous work has focused on the role of socioeconomic disadvantages in children's development. Our study aims to shift the conversation towards solutions for improving the environments children experience in early childhood to support their development and address inequalities,” says Elansary. “Given that race and ethnicity are strongly associated with differential access to high-quality neighborhoods, it is important to consider ways to promote access to these places for all families.”