Poverty is defined as an individual's inability to meet their basic needs. These needs include water, food, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Poverty has a major influence on failed childhood development, which occurs not only in the United States, but also globally. Jeffery Jensen Arnett (2016), author of Human Development a Cultural Approach, reports: "When it comes to income, about 40 percent of the world's population lives on less than two dollars a day, and 80 percent of the world's population lives with a family income of less than $6,000 per year. Along with this, in the book, socio-economic status is defined as a person's education level, income level, and professional level. It has been said that socio-economic status plays a very important role in human development. This article will help paint a picture of poverty rates around the world and show that the conditions in which these children live, particularly at a young age, have a major impact on their brain development. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Consider the following scenario: You live in a shabby, dilapidated trailer with your family of nine. You have to share a room with most of your brothers and sisters. Your trailer has no heating for the winter and you wonder every month if your parents will even have enough money to pay the rent. You might go days without seeing food because you never know where your next meal will come from, it could come from the dumpsters. You wear the same clothes for weeks without ever having good hygiene. You are not sent to school because your parents need to use that money to meet your basic human needs. Family members are at risk of falling into poor health and death due to lack of nutrition and failure to meet their basic needs for survival. Unfortunately, many families around the world experience this or a similar scenario. It's not difficult to understand how these types of scenarios might impact brain development. Poverty is a major problem in today's society. Poverty USA shared: “In 2018, 38.1 million people lived in poverty in America” (2018). For some people, this number may not be huge considering how many people live in the United States, but it has been reported that when children grow up in poverty, they are more likely to raise their own children in the same way. Research has proven that exposure to poverty during childhood can affect brain development. Poverty comes with many factors, such as malnutrition, poor health, etc. Growing up in such conditions can have negative effects on the brain, affecting language, learning and attention. The director of the Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania said: "When a child grows up in poor conditions...with limited cognitive stimulation, high levels of stress, etc., that person is more susceptible to grow up in a compromised environment. physical and mental health and a decline in academic results” (Lempin, 2012, p.428). Many people today suffer the consequences of something beyond their control. Exposure to poverty exposes developing children to many health problems. Being properly nourished is an important factor inlive a healthy life without unnecessary risks and health problems. However, people living in poverty generally do not have the choice to eat when and how they want. Most of the time, they never know when they will have their next meal. In a scientific study, Sarah Jensen, Anne Berne and Charles Nelson (2017) assert that “the risks of poverty can induce changes in key biological axes which, in turn, can mitigate the harmful effects of poverty on the neurocognitive development of children. They found that malnutrition is one of these risks linked to poverty. When the body is deprived of the nutrients or calories needed for the body's daily functioning. The body's metabolic process becomes disorganized, resulting in neutral functioning and growth. They also reported: “Nutrient availability also regulates the synthesis and activity of key neurotransmitters that underlie cognitive processing and mood.” The human body needs adequate nutrition and when this is not provided, it leads to problems in brain development and associated health risks. Research has proven that environments of poverty are not nurturing and in turn have a significant impact on child development. These environments create a lot of stress, few support systems, and are not stimulating for individuals. This type of environment had negative consequences on children's cognitive development. Researchers studied the link between poverty and the hippocampus, an area of ​​the brain involved in memory and learning, and showed that it is strongly affected by stress. In the scientific study, scientists reported that "children from low social status backgrounds had less gray matter and participants from more affluent backgrounds had large concentrations of gray matter." Thus, exposure to poverty has major effects on the development of these brain regions. In another study, he explains, "the amygdala and hippocampus are brain structures involved in stress regulation and emotion processing and are known to be sensitive to environmental stimuli." So if you are in a non-stimulating environment, these two brain structures will be sensitive to the environment. Children living in poverty are known to struggle and experience periods of stress throughout their lives. Therefore, these events in their life are going to have negative effects on a developing child due to poverty. Socioeconomic status (SES) is very important in shaping human development. Kolb and Gibb (2016) express that “low SES during childhood correlates with poor cognitive development.” Research by Jamie Hanson, Nicole Hair, Dingang Shan, Feng Shi, John Gilmore, Barbara Wolf, and Seth Pollak helps support Kolb and Gibbs' statement. Hanson and his colleagues conducted an experiment showing how living in a low-SES family influences your brain development early on. They stated that “living in poverty puts children at very high risk for problems in a variety of areas, including school, behavioral regulation, and health” (Hanson et al., 2013, p.1). In the study, the initial sample consisted of 110 healthy children, aged from birth to 4 years. A total of 338 MRI tests were acquired and two hundred to three hundred may have been segment scans to measure and visualize the brain. Fifty-five infants underwent a longitudinal study and 22 infants were scanned once at different ages. The participants came from families with lowincome, ranging from 4% to 400% of the federal poverty level. They perform MRI scans and observations of children who live in low-income places to gather results on how living in a low-SES family affects a child's development. From this experiment, they found that, compared to children of high socioeconomic status, children from poor backgrounds have lower average total gray matter and lower frontal and parietal gray matter volumes. Thus, it was shown that as developing children aged, the difference in brain volume widened. Small volumes in this brain tissue were linked to greater behavioral problems during the preschool years. Following an educational program and succeeding in it is something extremely valued in society. People take education very seriously because it will help you advance in your future endeavors. Although this is the case for most people, poor children do not care about their education, but rather about their basic needs as human beings. Children growing up in poverty are at a learning disadvantage, as shown in the above research on the developmental consequences of poor health, a negative environment, and low socioeconomic status. brain of the child. Researchers conducted a study and found results that clearly showed that poverty negatively affected student achievement. Misty Lacour and Laura Tissington reported on a study by Sum and Fogg "that poor students are ranked in the 19th percentile on assessments, while students from upper-middle-income families are ranked in the 66th percentile on assessments." evaluations” (Lacour, 201, p. 522). These children perform significantly below average on these assessment tests. These scores, in addition to the cost of education, hinder the child's ability to continue their education. I mentioned above many of the physical effects that poverty has on the brain, but there are also physiological effects. Parental Psychopathology Research conducted a study focused on mothers with disadvantaged psychopathology and mothers in poverty. Much of the extensive research has focused on depression and substance abuse problems among mothers. As a result of depression in mothers, it has been shown that “they tend to be less attentive to their children, between disengagement and intrusiveness” (Luthar, 1999, p. 42). In addition to this, they express more negative attributions towards their children and are at risk of being victims of hostile and coercive parenting as well as child maltreatment. Children growing up in such an environment are detrimental to their physiological minds. As they transition to school, these effects are noticeable in children, as they often feel ashamed or embarrassed given the conditions in which they grew up. As a result, most children develop insecurities, have low self-esteem and become antisocial. Never really get involved in an extracurricular activity or a solid group of friends. This will most likely cause them to drop out of school or get involved in illegal activities that will prepare them for the same lifestyle as their childhood. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized document from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Paper EssayIn conclusion, the idea of ​​extreme poverty in the world is daunting. Research has shown how harmful the effects of poverty are and how.