Thanks, Arielle!

So many more questions than answers here, but I think this work highlights the large variability among kids in poverty, and the complexities of being deemed successful in a society that was not built for them to succeed. So happy to see Selina’s hard work out in the world!

Interestingly, she found that high LFPN-DMN connectivity was linked to worse mental health for children in poverty—and that it even predicted worse mental health one year later. It suggests maybe the same pattern of brain activity that helps these kids succeed also puts them at risk.

Selina found that 9-10 year-old kids in poverty who had high grades also had better mental health concurrently, but grades were not predictive of future mental health issues.

Worryingly, this pattern of high LFPN-DMN coupling—seemingly adaptive for kids in poverty—has also previously been associated with mental health issues. So Selina wondered: is this also true for kids in poverty? Is something different going on, or is this still a risk factor?

Perhaps kids in poverty who succeed academically have to invoke different kinds of thought patterns to overcome academic structures that were not built for them. For example, creative thinking, future planning, even some forms of complex social reasoning likely rely on LFPN-DMN coupling.

We’ve previously found that kids in poverty who are high-performers on these tests and in school are more likely to show higher neural coupling between the LFPN (goal-directed processing) and the DMN (thoughts outside of the here-and-now). This was surprising—it’s the opposite of high-income kids.

Kids in poverty are often talked about as if they are a monolithic group, but of course we know that’s not true. Even when looking at their test scores on standardized cognitive measures alone (an arguably biased metric), there’s huge variation in how they do.

It is surreal to join the GSE, which I have admired since my undergrad years, and the SCEC, which is on the frontiers of well-rounded, community-driven science.

And as someone who struggled with living away from outside-of-work community, moving back to my people is the greatest gift 💝

So so much of this can be attributed to my luck in having the most thoughtful, supportive mentors: Mahesh Srinivasan, Silvia Bunge, Ari Eason, @apmackey.bsky.social, and so many more formal and informal over the years. I aspire to do for others a fraction of what they’ve done for me.

(IN 1 HOUR): "Applying a critical lens to strengths-based developmental frameworks" with @mellwoodlowe.bsky.social @meriahdejoseph.bsky.social @damcotto.bsky.social Deena presents: "Community perspectives on strengths-based developmental research: A qualitative inquiry" (2/4)

tagging @meriahdejoseph.bsky.social who is here now 🤩