US research suggests that the brains of children from low-income families process information differently to those of their wealthier counterparts. Normal nine and 10-year-olds from rich and poor backgrounds had differing electrical activity in a part of the brain linked to problem solving. In the study, conducted at the University of California, 26 children, half from low income homes and half from high income families were measured using an electroencephalograph, which measured activity in the ‘prefrontal cortex’ of the brain. Those from lower income families show-ed a lower prefrontal cortex res-ponse to it than those from weal-thier households. The study sho-wed low socioeconomic status kids behaved exa-ctly the same way as high socioecono-mic status children, but the-ir brain proce-ssed the information differently. — Agencies