New research from a project, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, shows that a child’s wider surroundings, the schools, streets, and parks beyond the front gate, play a crucial role in shaping both their mental health and brain development.

Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the study examined nearly 10 000 nine- and ten-year-olds using MRI scans, behavioural assessments, and socioeconomic data. Led by researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt University, the project mapped children’s neighbourhoods using the Childhood Opportunity Index 2.0, a measure capturing education quality, health access, environmental safety, and social conditions.

Children growing up in high-opportunity neighbourhoods, where schools perform well, libraries and parks are accessible, and families experience lower housing instability, showed stronger cognitive skills and more balanced emotional health. Brain imaging revealed that these children had more mature development in regions tied to memory, planning, and self-control. In contrast, those in low-opportunity areas displayed higher stress markers, greater impulsivity, and higher risks of anxiety and depression.

Access to green space correlated with healthier sleep patterns and better emotion regulation. Areas with higher air pollution and noise exposure were tied to poorer attention and slower cognitive processing. Neighbourhoods marked by concentrated poverty saw elevated behavioural problems even after adjusting for household income, suggesting that environment exerts its own independent force. Social cohesion mattered too: children who lived in communities with stronger social networks and perceived safety tended to report higher life satisfaction and resilience.

For parents, this research offers both warning and opportunity. It shows that the everyday places children move through such as parks, sidewalks, corner shops, after-school centres, quietly shape how they think, cope, and grow. Therefore, communities that lobby for things such as safer road crossings, cleaner streets, tree planting, and better-funded schools are in fact investing in children’s mental and cognitive health. As the researchers note, environment and biology are intertwined: “Children’s brains develop in the context of their surroundings,” meaning social investment pays neural dividends.