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Poverty and lack of nurturing in early life can lead to comparatively smaller brains in children, a new study has found. However good parenting can help overcome this.

In the research it was found that kids who grew up in a poorer environment possessed a smaller amygdala and hippocampus volumes. These are the part of brain which are responsible for regulating memory as well as emotions.

“Generally speaking, larger brains within a certain range of normal are healthier brains,” said Dr. Joan Luby who is the study’s lead author, according to Reuters.

“Having a smaller brain within a certain range of normal is generally not healthy. It’s associated with poorer outcomes,”

Previously another research also suggested that the stress of living in poverty in childhood can have lifelong effects on child’s ability to learn.

“This work adds to a growing body of evidence that early life events powerfully shape not only the course of child development but also adult development,” said Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School in Boston, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. 

“It adds to the literature showing that early adversity can have life-long effects on both psychological and physical development. The reason it’s probably more common in poorer families is that they’re lacking in resources and trying to make ends meet," he added.

Charles also wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.

A study which was published in JAMA Pediatrics, is based on data from an existing study of 145 children who are based in and around St. Louis.

Researchers are looking forward to measures that will encourage a healthy environment for the developing brain in future.

“Biology is very much influenced by the environment,” Luby told Reuters. “The question is what period might be the time when the brain is most sensitive to influence.”