研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，貧窮不僅會影響孩子的學業(yè)成績和未來收入，還會改變寶寶的大腦活動水平，而且這種改變在寶寶出生的第一年就開始發(fā)生了。

Putting cash in the hands of mothers can help shape the brains of their babies, according to a study in the United States.

美國的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，母親手里有錢有助于寶寶大腦的發(fā)育。

Family income has been linked to child development numerous times in the past in observational studies, but this is the first time researchers have found direct experimental evidence of how poverty drives such changes.

過去的觀察性研究已多次表明，家庭收入與孩子發(fā)育有關，但這是研究人員首次通過實驗發(fā)現(xiàn)貧窮影響孩子大腦發(fā)育的直接證據(jù)。

The findings come from an ongoing study known as Baby's First Year, which is attempting to assess how poverty reduction can impact the cognitive and emotional growth of very young children.

這項正在進行的研究名為“寶寶的第一年”，該研究試圖評估減貧對于嬰幼兒認知能力和情感發(fā)育的影響。

"We have known for many years that growing up in poverty puts children at risk for lower school achievement, reduced earnings, and poorer health," explains neuroscientist Kimberly Noble from Columbia University.

來自哥倫比亞大學的神經(jīng)學家金柏莉·諾布爾解釋道：“我們多年以前就知道，在貧窮中長大可能會導致孩子學習成績差、收入低和健康狀況不良?！?/p>

"However, until now, we haven't been able to say whether poverty itself causes differences in child development, or whether growing up in poverty is simply associated with other factors that cause those differences."

“然而，直到現(xiàn)在，我們還不能確定貧窮是否會導致孩子發(fā)育的差異，或者在貧窮中長大是否與導致孩子發(fā)育差異的其他因素直接相關。”

A thousand low-income mothers in the US were recruited for the study shortly after their babies were born.

這項研究在美國招募了1000名不久前生了寶寶的低收入母親。

These parents, who came from either New York City, New Orleans, Omaha or Minneapolis/St. Paul, were then randomly allocated either $333 a month in unconditional cash payments or $20 a month in unconditional cash payments for the first four years of their baby's life – no strings attached.

研究人員給這些來自紐約市、新奧爾良市、奧馬哈市或明尼阿波利斯/圣保羅市的父母在寶寶出生后的前四年隨機每月?lián)芸?33美元（約合人民幣2113元）或20美元（約合人民幣127元），他們可以用這些錢買任何東西，并且沒有任何附加條件。

The data show that giving low-income mothers financial support can directly change infant brain activity in the first year of life.

數(shù)據(jù)顯示，在寶寶出生后第一年給低收入母親提供經(jīng)濟支持可以直接改變嬰兒的大腦活動水平。

Infants whose mothers had received the higher cash payments, for instance, had higher frequency brain activity than those infants whose mothers had received less.

舉例來說，獲得更多現(xiàn)金撥款的母親養(yǎng)育的寶寶比獲得撥款少的母親養(yǎng)育的寶寶大腦活動頻率更高。

Further research is needed to see whether these changes in brain activity last or whether they translate to improved cognitive development, but there's good reason to suspect they might.

大腦活動的這些改變能否持續(xù)或者是否會轉化為認知發(fā)育的改善還有待進一步研究，但是研究人員有充分的理由相信大腦活動的改變會影響認知發(fā)育。

Some small studies have recently shown that high-frequency brain activity is more common in babies born into higher-income families. This type of activity is also associated with higher language, cognitive, and social-emotional scores.

最近有一些小型研究顯示，高頻率的大腦活動在高收入家庭的寶寶當中更常見。這種高頻率大腦活動還與更高的語言、認知和人際情感得分相關。

Because of the nature of the study, the authors still don't know what environmental factors could have triggered the higher frequency brain waves seen in the trial. They are now investigating whether household expenditures, parental behaviors, family relationships, or family stress had anything to do with the results.

由于這項研究的性質，作者尚不清楚什么樣的環(huán)境因素會引發(fā)實驗中出現(xiàn)的高頻率腦電波。目前他們正在調(diào)查家庭開支、父母行為、家庭關系或家庭壓力是否與結果有關。

The study was published in the PNAS.

該研究發(fā)表在《美國國家科學院院報》上。

英文來源：Science Alert

翻譯&編輯：丹妮