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Socioeconomic status (SES) is unequally distributed across racial groups and associated with changes in the brain and cognition. However, it is unknown whether the relationships between SES, the brain, and cognition are different between groups—beyond the impact of socioeconomic resource distribution differences. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 8,064), we found associations between various SES factors, white matter network organization, and general cognitive ability. Low SES was associated with greater white matter network integration and segregation. Segregation partially mediated the impact of SES on cognitive ability. Race-based differences in SES-brain relationships had no impact on cognition, even when underlying resource distribution differences were accounted for. Alternatively, sex (another key demographic variable) impacted these relationships, with several sex-specific relationships arising. These results demonstrate the importance of considering demographic factors in cognitive neuroscience research and the necessity of ensuring that such factors are not obscuring other, more meaningful, relationships.
Kropf et al. (Fri,) studied this question.