The Neuroscience of Socioeconomic Status: Correlates, Causes, and Consequences

Human beings differ in their socioeconomic status (SES), with accompanying differences in physical and mental health as well as cognitive ability. Although SES has long been used as a covariate in human brain research, in recognition of its potential to account for behavioral and neural differences among people, only recently have neuroscientists made SES a topic of research in its own right. How does SES manifest in the brain, and how do its neural correlates relate to the causes and consequences of SES? This review summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding these questions. Particular challenges of research on the neuroscience of SES are discussed, and the relevance of this topic to neuroscience more generally is considered. •The concept of socioeconomic status (SES) is explained, and its elements are reviewed•The relations of SES to brain structure and function are summarized•Evidence concerning the causes and consequences of these relations is presented•The broader implications for society and for neuroscience are reviewed Farah reviews the state of the art in the neuroscience of socioeconomic status, summarizing structural and functional correlates of SES; their real-world sequelae, hypotheses, and evidence concerning the causes of associations between SES and the brain; and implications for neuroscience.