Childhood environment and socioeconomic status appear to affect cognitive ability and brain development during adolescence, independently of genetic factors, according to a new study by a research team at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.
The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), demonstrate how important the family environment is, not just during early infancy but throughout all of adolescence.
While the way in which genes and environment (nature vs. nurture) affect the brain and cognitive faculties is still hotly debated, previous research has not taken genes into account while looking at the environmental effects.
Read more on psychcentral.com