How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
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Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#2This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
I wonder if this has implications about the sense of agency people from different backgrounds feel (or not) in their lives.
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#3[flagged]
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#4I wonder how this changes with spirituality background - e.g. with Buddhism, stoicism and so on.
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#5fMRI results show that children from lower-SES backgrounds are less stimulated by monetary rewards.
"The findings suggest that lower SES circumstances may prompt the brain to adapt to the environment..."
Wow! How did they control for the possibility that a heritable reward-focus in the parents leads to the SES results? Or that other factors, such as higher engagement or game-competence, might have led to this result? The story doesn't say, but if someone could post the relevant discussion from the journal article, I'd be interested in seeing it.
I'm sure it's there.
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#6It wasn’t clear to me from the article itself, but for those familiar with research in this area: has anybody attempted to disentangle differences caused by genetics vs. by environment per se?
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#7This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing! I wonder if this has implications about the sense of agency people from different backgrounds feel (or not) in their lives.
In a capitalist society, class is the predominant relationship one has with their society.
I know this is pretty obvious and may not entirely answer your question, but many people find it very difficult to swallow this reality these days and I think it's worth reminding.
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#8This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing! I wonder if this has implications about the sense of agency people from different backgrounds feel (or not) in their lives.
To some degree, socioeconomic status likely dictates agency (the higher you are, the more agency you have in general). So, I imagine if the perceived agency is aligned with actual agency, you’d see the same.
Now, in some respect everyone has the same amount of agency. No matter how rich or how poor one may be, they can tell the world to buzz off and do whatever they want to do, so in that sense they have the same agency. In reality, most people have an impulse to survive and meet those needs, like having food and so on, and people are cognizant of this fact. So unless you have the ability to provide all your needs, agency is mostly an illusion. Sure, you can do whatever you want but it’s a lot easier if you have a pile of money to cover your whims. If you don’t, well you might starve to death or die from some easily curable disease.
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#9I wonder how this changes with spirituality background - e.g. with Buddhism, stoicism and so on.
I think it changes significantly, since being spiritual is an effective way to rework and improve the inclinations that previous experiences have impressed upon a person. Although this study being focused on the reward response in 12-14 year olds is not going to be an assessment of that since the typical 12-14 year old doesn't even have a coherent comprehension of the basics of their spiritual text yet...
Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background
#10This is really interesting