What Poverty and Insomnia have in common

John Freund, CM
September 1, 2013

chicken-eggWhich comes first? The chicken or the egg? Some research about an analogous question Does low intelligence cause poverty or does poverty cause low intelligence move in the the direction of the latter.

Another article puts it this way… “What do Poverty and Insomnia have in common?”

“In both groups, “people wrestling with the mental strain of poverty suffered a drop of as much as 13 points in their IQ — roughly the same found in people subjected to a night with no sleep.” Unsurprisingly, once money worries were resolved, clearer thinking returned.”

The research is drawing quite a bit of attention in various forms of media.

Graphic courtesy of ideastations.org

Poverty saps mental capacity to deal with complex tasks, say scientists | Science

theguardian.com – Poor people spend so much mental energy on the immediate problems of paying bills and cutting costs that they are left with less capacity to deal with other complex but important tasks, including e…

How Poverty Taxes the Brain – Emily Badger – The Atlantic Cities

theatlanticcities.com – Human mental bandwidth is finite. You’ve probably experienced this before (though maybe not in those terms): When you’re lost in concentration trying to solve a problem like a broken computer, you’…

Poverty shown to damage decision-making

usatoday.com – Just being broke, in and of itself, damages people’s abilities to make good decisions in a way roughly equivalent to losing 13 IQ points, or constantly losing a night’s sleep, suggests a report out…

Study finds poverty reduces brain power

reuters.com – LONDON (Reuters) – Poverty and the all-consuming fretting that comes with it require so much mental energy that the poor have little brain power left to devote to other areas of life, according to …

Poverty strains cognitive abilities, opening door for bad decision-making, new study finds – The Washington Post

washingtonpost.com – As part of the study, researchers conducted experiments on two groups of subjects: low- and middle-income shoppers in a mall in New Jersey, and sugar cane farmers in rural India.

Poverty Has Same Effect On The Brain As Constantly Pulling All Nighters

thinkprogress.org – The mental strain of living in poverty and thinking constantly about tight finances can drop a person’s IQ by as much as 13 percent, or about the equivalent of losing a night of sleep, according to…

foxnews.com – Poverty and the all-consuming fretting that comes with it require so much mental energy that the poor have little brain power left to devote to other areas of life, according to the findings of an …

HEALTH

BBC News – Poverty significantly saps our mental abilities say researchers

Shared by
News

 

 

bbc.co.uk – Being poor can sap a person’s mental resources, research published in the journal Science suggests. The work, by an international team, demonstrates how poverty takes its toll on cognitive function…

EDUCATION

A College Kid, A Single Mom, And The Problem With The Poverty Line : Planet Money : NPR

Shared by
SunitaPhoto

 

 

npr.org – Rico Saccoccio is a junior at Fordham University in the Bronx. He’s from a middle-class family in Connecticut and he spent the summer living at home with his parents, who cover about $15,000 a year…

HEALTH

Poverty hurts your ability to think reasonably: study

Shared by
Dawn Chubai

 

 

news1130.com – VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – While many seem to blame the poor for not improving their lives, a new study is out showing it may not actually be their fault. It shows being poor makes it a lot harder for …

EDUCATION

Poor people aren’t stupid; bad decisions are from being overwhelmed, study finds – In Plain Sight

Shared by
Simple Tulip

 

 

inplainsight.nbcnews.com – By Maggie Fox, Senior Health Writer, NBC News Being poor affects your ability to think, a new study shows. Those coping with severe financial stress don’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with all…

HEALTH

Princeton University – Poor concentration: Poverty reduces brainpower needed for navigating other areas of life

Shared by
Gary McFarlane

 

princeton.edu – Poverty and all its related concerns require so much mental energy that the poor have less remaining brainpower to devote to other areas of life, according to research based at Princeton University…

SOCIETY

Debt Enforcement Policy Harms Employment Prospects for the Poor

Shared by
RH Reality Check

 

 

rhrealitycheck.org – The purported objective of Clinton-era welfare reform was to end poor people’s dependence on government benefits and encourage them to find work. But along with the enactment of welfare reform 17 y…

HEALTH

Poverty lowers brain power, making it harder to figure out ways to escape: study – Winnipeg Free Press

Shared by
Robert Quickert

 

winnipegfreepress.com – TORONTO – Dealing with poverty takes up so much mental energy that the poor have less brain power for making decisions and taking steps to overcome their financial difficulties, a study suggests. T…

 

 

Poverty Reduces Brain Power: Study

Shared by
Frank Mc

 

huffingtonpost.com – LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Poverty and the all-consuming fretting that comes with it require so much mental energy that the poor have little brain power left to devote to other areas of life, accor…

SOCIETY

This Week in Poverty: John Lewis, Barack Obama, and the New March

Shared by
Andrew

 

 

thenation.com – There is much to celebrate in marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, as Congressman John Lewis rightly noted on Wednesday.  “Sometime I hear people saying not…

ENVIRONMENT

Poverty & MDGs | IPS Inter Press Service | News Agency

Shared by
The Gender Wire

 

 

ipsnews.net – U.S. Court Ruling Boosts Vulture Funds at Developing World’s Expense A recent U.S. court ruling over a fight between Argentina and its creditors on Wall Street will increase global poverty by makin…

HEALTH

Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function

Shared by
SharonHsiao

 

sciencemag.org – The poor often behave in less capable ways, which can further perpetuate poverty. We hypothesize that poverty directly impedes cognitive function and present two studies that test this hypothesis. …

HEALTH

Poverty Saps the Brain’s Mental Reserves

Shared by
Tanya Lewis

 

 

 

 

 


Tags: ,

share Share