Physiological stress, sustained attention and cognitive engagement in 12-month-old infants from urban environments.

Abstract

Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the proportion of children who grow up in cities. However, relatively little work has explored in detail the physiological and cognitive pathways through which city life may affect early development. To assess this, we observed a cohort of infants growing up in diverse settings across the South-East UK across a two-day assessment battery. On visit 1, day-long home recordings were made to monitor infants’ noise exposure and physiological stress in real-world settings. On visit 2, lab batteries were administered to measure infants’ cognitive, emotional and neural reactivity. Infants from more high density urban environments showed increased physiological stress (decreased parasympathetic nervous system activity) at home. This relationship was independent of socio-economic status and lifelong stressors. Behaviourally, infants raised in high-density settings showed lower sustained attention in the lab, along with increased behavioural and physiological reactivity during an emotion elicitation task. However, they also showed increased recognition memory for briefly presented stimuli and increased neural engagement with novel stimuli. This pattern is consistent with other research into how elevated physiological stress influences cognition, and with theoretical approaches from adult research that predict that city life is associated with a profile of cognitive strengths as well as weaknesses. Implications for education and developmental psychopathology are discussed.

Stress and Learning in Pupils: Neuroscience Evidence and its Relevance for Teachers

“…For example, young children being raised in more densely populated urban environments show elevated physiological stress in home settings. When tested in the laboratory, the same children showed reduced sustained attention but faster speeds of learning (Wass, Smith, Stubbs, Clackson, & Mirza, 2019). This ties in with the ‘hidden talents’ model of adaptive intelligence, in which although early‐life adversity can undermine healthy development, children growing up in harsh environments may also develop typical, or even enhanced skills for solving problems in high‐adversity contexts (the hidden talents) (Ellis et al, 2020).…”

Within-person changes in basal cortisol and caregiving modulate executive attention across infancy

“…Future research should utilize an approach that would allow for the quantification of resting cortisol through the measurement of cumulative cortisol concentrations, waking or morning cortisol levels, or diurnal curves. In addition, the current study used a rural sample; however, it is known that aspects of urban environments such as density and noise likely play a role in the development of infant attention (Wass, Smith, Stubbs, Clackson, & Mirza, 2019). Thus, future studies should assess whether the findings currently presented would replicate in urban and suburban environments.…”