APA Citation:
University of Illinois at Chicago (2013, October 21). Growing up poor, stressed impacts brain function as adult. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/10/131021211450.htm
Abstract and Critique In the article, "Growing up Poor, Stressed Impacts Brain Function as Adult," it explains the study done by the researchers at UIC, Cornell University, University of Michigan and University of Denver. The researchers at both of the universities worked on a study together about how the stress of growing up in greater poverty effects the persons brain function as an adult. "The study examined associations between childhood poverty at age 9, exposure to chronic stressors during childhood, and neural activity in areas of the brain involved in emotional regulation at age 24." Through this they found that, these people had less activity in the prefrontal cortex part in the brain which job is to regulate, control, and reduce negativity, and more activity in the amygdala of the brain, a section that releases negativity in the brain as an adult. This can result in depression and stress issues as an adult. As Dr. K. Luan Phan, professor of psychiatry at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and senior author of the study said, "This serves as a brain-behavioral index of a person's day-to-day ability to cope with stress and negative emotions as they encounter them." They hope to continue the study to better understand the