Do socioeconomic status and stress reactivity really impact neurocognitive performance?

Various discussions have centered on whether and how socioeconomic status and stress are associated with neurocognitive function in different stages of development. Reviews have been conducted focusing on only part of these relationships (SES and stress or SES and neurocognition). The aim of the present study was to review investigations that examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), stress (assessed by cortisol levels and allostatic load), and neurocognitive performance (executive function, memory, language, and intelligence), including the three variables in the same study. A systematic review was conducted that evaluated articles published between 1990 and 2013 in the Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, and BVS-Psi databases. Nine studies were analyzed based on inclusion criteria. Overall, SES, stress, and neurocognitive performance were independently related in the studies. Furthermore, early evidence suggest that stress is a mechanism that mediates the relationship between SES and neurocognitive performance, specifically in visuospatial working memory and executive function tasks in childhood. This evidence should be confirmed in future studies.