Martha J Farah
Biographic Data
| ID | 1662238 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Martha J Farah |
| GIVEN NAMES | Martha J |
| FAMILY NAME | Farah |
| SIGNATURE | FARAH M J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Pennsylvania |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6683-0352 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 98 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Socioeconomic Status Disparities in Children’s Cognition—Differences in Degree or Kind
The “socioeconomic achievement gap” refers to socioeconomic disparities in children’s academic outcomes. Do these gaps invariably reflect cognitive processes that are similar in kind across the socioeconomic status (SES) spectrum but differ quantitatively in their efficacy? Or, in some cases, do they reflect cognitive processes that differ, in kind, between higher and lower SES, that is, qualitatively? In this systematic review, we used the ways …
Checking in with Neuroethics
Like people, academic fields grow, acquire an identity, establish goals, and ultimately impact the world in various ways. Here we check in with our young friend Neuroethics—a field I want to see develop and thrive. This won't happen if it keeps returning to issues like cognitive enhancement or neural causation of behavior and responsibility, with minor adjustments of its analyses. Neuroethics is at its best when scanning the horizon for new scien…
A meta‐analysis of the relationship between socioeconomic status and executive function performance among children
The relationship between childhood socioeconomic status ( SES ) and executive function ( EF ) has recently attracted attention within psychology, following reports of substantial SES disparities in children's EF . Adding to the importance of this relationship, EF has been proposed as a mediator of socioeconomic disparities in lifelong achievement and health. However, evidence about the relationship between childhood SES and EF is mixed, and there…
The Neuroscience of Socioeconomic Status: Correlates, Causes, and Consequences
Law and Neuroscience
Socioeconomic status and executive function: Developmental trajectories and mediation
Childhood socioeconomic status ( SES ) predicts executive function ( EF ), but fundamental aspects of this relation remain unknown: the developmental course of the SES disparity, its continued sensitivity to SES changes during that course, and the features of childhood experience responsible for the SES – EF relation. Regarding course, early disparities would be expected to grow during development if caused by accumulating stressors at a given co…
Brain Images, Babies, and Bathwater: Critiquing Critiques of Functional Neuroimaging
Since the mid‐1980s, psychologists and neuroscientists have used brain imaging to test hypotheses about human thought processes and their neural instantiation. In just three decades, functional neuroimaging has been transformed from a crude clinical tool to a widely used research method for understanding the human brain and mind. Such rapidly achieved success is bound to evoke skepticism. A degree of skepticism toward new methods and ideas is bot…
Diagnostic Brain Imaging in Psychiatry: Current Uses and Future Prospects
Discussing smart pills versus endorsing smart pills: Reply to Swanson, Wigal, and Volkow (2011) and Elliott and Elliott (2011)
We find much of interest, and little to disagree with, in the commentaries on our article. We take issue only with the suggestion that our article was provocative and submit that the attempt to understand the use of stimulants as smart pills does not imply an endorsement of the practice
Neuroethics: The Ethical, Legal, and Societal Impact of Neuroscience
Advances in cognitive, affective, and social neuroscience raise a host of new questions concerning the ways in which neuroscience can and should be used. These advances also challenge our intuitions about the nature of humans as moral and spiritual beings. Neuroethics is the new field that grapples with these issues. The present article surveys a number of applications of neuroscience to such diverse arenas as marketing, criminal justice, the mil…
Are prescription stimulants "smart pills"? The epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience of prescription stimulant use by normal healthy individuals
Use of prescription stimulants by normal healthy individuals to enhance cognition is said to be on the rise. Who is using these medications for cognitive enhancement, and how prevalent is this practice? Do prescription stimulants in fact enhance cognition for normal healthy people? We review the epidemiological and cognitive neuroscience literatures in search of answers to these questions. Epidemiological issues addressed include the prevalence o…
Socioeconomic status and the brain: Mechanistic insights from human and animal research
Socioeconomic status and the developing brain
Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with cognitive achievement throughout life. How does SES relate to brain development, and what are the mechanisms by which SES might exert its influence? We review studies in which behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods have been used to characterize SES disparities in neurocognitive function. These studies indicate that SES is an important predictor of neurocognitive performan…
Effect of serotonin transporter genotype on impulsivity and venturesomeness: A preliminary investigation
Despite the significant associations between the short (S) allele of the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and various psychiatric disorders, the S allele has persisted at relatively high prevalence in the human population worldwide. Based on findings of greater amygdala activity among S allele carriers both at rest and in response to threat-relevant stimuli, the S allele appears to be associated with greater vigilance fo…
Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy
The influence of sad mood on cognition
Neuroimaging has identified an overlapping network of brain regions whose activity is modulated by mood and cognition. Studies of depressed individuals have shown changes in perception, attention, memory, and executive functions. This suggests that mood has a pervasive effect on cognition. Direct evidence of the effect of sad mood on cognition is surprisingly limited, however. Published studies have generally addressed a single cognitive ability …
Socioeconomic gradients predict individual differences in neurocognitive abilities
Socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with childhood cognitive achievement. In previous research we found that this association shows neural specificity; specifically we found that groups of low and middle SES children differed disproportionately in perisylvian/language and prefrontal/executive abilities relative to other neurocognitive abilities. Here we address several new questions: To what extent does this disparity between groups reflect …
Childhood poverty: Specific associations with neurocognitive development
Neurocognitive correlates of socioeconomic status in kindergarten children
Socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly associated with cognitive ability and achievement during childhood and beyond. Little is known about the developmental relationships between SES and specific brain systems or their associated cognitive functions. In this study we assessed neurocognitive functioning of kindergarteners from different socioeconomic backgrounds, using tasks drawn from the cognitive neuroscience literature in order to determine h…
Is Self Special? A Critical Review of Evidence From Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
Varied research findings have been taken to support the claim that humans' representation of the self is "special," that is, that it emerges from systems that are physically and functionally distinct from those used for more general purpose cognitive processing. The authors evaluate this claim by reviewing the relevant literatures and addressing the criteria for considering a system special, the various operationalizations of self, and how the st…
Monitoring and Manipulating Brain Function: New Neuroscience Technologies and Their Ethical Implications
Martha J. Farah, Paul Root Wolpe, Monitoring and Manipulating Brain Function: New Neuroscience Technologies and Their Ethical Implications, The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 34, No. 3 (May - Jun., 2004), pp. 35-45
Neuroethics
Five years ago the word "neuroethics" was rarely used, and when it was it denoted the classic issues of clinical bioethics—informed consent, resource rationing and the like—in the context of neurology. Recently the word has gained wider currency and its meaning has changed. In this brief article I will review the burgeoning field of neuroethics and highlight one particular issue likely to affect practicing neurologists in the very near future
What is "special" about face perception?
There is growing evidence that face recognition is "special" but less certainty concerning the way in which it is special. The authors review and compare previous proposals and their own more recent hypothesis, that faces are recognized "holistically" (i.e., using relatively less part decomposition than other types of objects). This hypothesis, which can account for a variety of data from experiments on face memory, was tested with 4 new experime…
Role of left inferior prefrontal cortex in retrieval of semantic knowledge: A reevaluation
A number of neuroimaging findings have been interpreted as evidence that the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) subserves retrieval of semantic knowledge. We provide a fundamentally different interpretation, that it is not retrieval of semantic knowledge per se that is associated with left IFG activity but rather selection of information among competing alternatives from semantic memory. Selection demands were varied across three semantic tasks in…
Parts and Wholes in Face Recognition
Are faces recognized using more holistic representations than other types of stimuli? Taking holistic representation to mean representation without an internal part structure, we interpret the available evidence on this issue and then design new empirical tests. Based on previous research, we reasoned that if a portion of an object corresponds to an explicitly represented part in a hierarchical visual representation, then when that portion is pre…
Socioeconomic gradients predict individual differences in neurocognitive abilities
Socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with childhood cognitive achievement. In previous research we found that this association shows neural specificity; specifically we found that groups of low and middle SES children differed disproportionately in perisylvian/language and prefrontal/executive abilities relative to other neurocognitive abilities. Here we address several new questions: To what extent does this disparity between groups reflect …
Are prescription stimulants "smart pills"? The epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience of prescription stimulant use by normal healthy individuals
Use of prescription stimulants by normal healthy individuals to enhance cognition is said to be on the rise. Who is using these medications for cognitive enhancement, and how prevalent is this practice? Do prescription stimulants in fact enhance cognition for normal healthy people? We review the epidemiological and cognitive neuroscience literatures in search of answers to these questions. Epidemiological issues addressed include the prevalence o…
Neuroethics: The Ethical, Legal, and Societal Impact of Neuroscience
Advances in cognitive, affective, and social neuroscience raise a host of new questions concerning the ways in which neuroscience can and should be used. These advances also challenge our intuitions about the nature of humans as moral and spiritual beings. Neuroethics is the new field that grapples with these issues. The present article surveys a number of applications of neuroscience to such diverse arenas as marketing, criminal justice, the mil…
Parts and Wholes in Face Recognition
Are faces recognized using more holistic representations than other types of stimuli? Taking holistic representation to mean representation without an internal part structure, we interpret the available evidence on this issue and then design new empirical tests. Based on previous research, we reasoned that if a portion of an object corresponds to an explicitly represented part in a hierarchical visual representation, then when that portion is pre…
Role of left inferior prefrontal cortex in retrieval of semantic knowledge: A reevaluation
A number of neuroimaging findings have been interpreted as evidence that the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) subserves retrieval of semantic knowledge. We provide a fundamentally different interpretation, that it is not retrieval of semantic knowledge per se that is associated with left IFG activity but rather selection of information among competing alternatives from semantic memory. Selection demands were varied across three semantic tasks in…
What is "special" about face perception?
There is growing evidence that face recognition is "special" but less certainty concerning the way in which it is special. The authors review and compare previous proposals and their own more recent hypothesis, that faces are recognized "holistically" (i.e., using relatively less part decomposition than other types of objects). This hypothesis, which can account for a variety of data from experiments on face memory, was tested with 4 new experime…
Monitoring and Manipulating Brain Function: New Neuroscience Technologies and Their Ethical Implications
Martha J. Farah, Paul Root Wolpe, Monitoring and Manipulating Brain Function: New Neuroscience Technologies and Their Ethical Implications, The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 34, No. 3 (May - Jun., 2004), pp. 35-45
Neuroethics
Five years ago the word "neuroethics" was rarely used, and when it was it denoted the classic issues of clinical bioethics—informed consent, resource rationing and the like—in the context of neurology. Recently the word has gained wider currency and its meaning has changed. In this brief article I will review the burgeoning field of neuroethics and highlight one particular issue likely to affect practicing neurologists in the very near future
Neurocognitive correlates of socioeconomic status in kindergarten children
Socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly associated with cognitive ability and achievement during childhood and beyond. Little is known about the developmental relationships between SES and specific brain systems or their associated cognitive functions. In this study we assessed neurocognitive functioning of kindergarteners from different socioeconomic backgrounds, using tasks drawn from the cognitive neuroscience literature in order to determine h…
Is Self Special? A Critical Review of Evidence From Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
Varied research findings have been taken to support the claim that humans' representation of the self is "special," that is, that it emerges from systems that are physically and functionally distinct from those used for more general purpose cognitive processing. The authors evaluate this claim by reviewing the relevant literatures and addressing the criteria for considering a system special, the various operationalizations of self, and how the st…
Childhood poverty: Specific associations with neurocognitive development
The influence of sad mood on cognition
Neuroimaging has identified an overlapping network of brain regions whose activity is modulated by mood and cognition. Studies of depressed individuals have shown changes in perception, attention, memory, and executive functions. This suggests that mood has a pervasive effect on cognition. Direct evidence of the effect of sad mood on cognition is surprisingly limited, however. Published studies have generally addressed a single cognitive ability …
Socioeconomic gradients predict individual differences in neurocognitive abilities
Socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with childhood cognitive achievement. In previous research we found that this association shows neural specificity; specifically we found that groups of low and middle SES children differed disproportionately in perisylvian/language and prefrontal/executive abilities relative to other neurocognitive abilities. Here we address several new questions: To what extent does this disparity between groups reflect …
Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy
Socioeconomic status and the developing brain
Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with cognitive achievement throughout life. How does SES relate to brain development, and what are the mechanisms by which SES might exert its influence? We review studies in which behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods have been used to characterize SES disparities in neurocognitive function. These studies indicate that SES is an important predictor of neurocognitive performan…
Effect of serotonin transporter genotype on impulsivity and venturesomeness: A preliminary investigation
Despite the significant associations between the short (S) allele of the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and various psychiatric disorders, the S allele has persisted at relatively high prevalence in the human population worldwide. Based on findings of greater amygdala activity among S allele carriers both at rest and in response to threat-relevant stimuli, the S allele appears to be associated with greater vigilance fo…
Socioeconomic status and the brain: Mechanistic insights from human and animal research
Discussing smart pills versus endorsing smart pills: Reply to Swanson, Wigal, and Volkow (2011) and Elliott and Elliott (2011)
We find much of interest, and little to disagree with, in the commentaries on our article. We take issue only with the suggestion that our article was provocative and submit that the attempt to understand the use of stimulants as smart pills does not imply an endorsement of the practice
Neuroethics: The Ethical, Legal, and Societal Impact of Neuroscience
Advances in cognitive, affective, and social neuroscience raise a host of new questions concerning the ways in which neuroscience can and should be used. These advances also challenge our intuitions about the nature of humans as moral and spiritual beings. Neuroethics is the new field that grapples with these issues. The present article surveys a number of applications of neuroscience to such diverse arenas as marketing, criminal justice, the mil…
Are prescription stimulants "smart pills"? The epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience of prescription stimulant use by normal healthy individuals
Use of prescription stimulants by normal healthy individuals to enhance cognition is said to be on the rise. Who is using these medications for cognitive enhancement, and how prevalent is this practice? Do prescription stimulants in fact enhance cognition for normal healthy people? We review the epidemiological and cognitive neuroscience literatures in search of answers to these questions. Epidemiological issues addressed include the prevalence o…
Diagnostic Brain Imaging in Psychiatry: Current Uses and Future Prospects
Brain Images, Babies, and Bathwater: Critiquing Critiques of Functional Neuroimaging
Since the mid‐1980s, psychologists and neuroscientists have used brain imaging to test hypotheses about human thought processes and their neural instantiation. In just three decades, functional neuroimaging has been transformed from a crude clinical tool to a widely used research method for understanding the human brain and mind. Such rapidly achieved success is bound to evoke skepticism. A degree of skepticism toward new methods and ideas is bot…
Law and Neuroscience
Socioeconomic status and executive function: Developmental trajectories and mediation
Childhood socioeconomic status ( SES ) predicts executive function ( EF ), but fundamental aspects of this relation remain unknown: the developmental course of the SES disparity, its continued sensitivity to SES changes during that course, and the features of childhood experience responsible for the SES – EF relation. Regarding course, early disparities would be expected to grow during development if caused by accumulating stressors at a given co…
The Neuroscience of Socioeconomic Status: Correlates, Causes, and Consequences
A meta‐analysis of the relationship between socioeconomic status and executive function performance among children
The relationship between childhood socioeconomic status ( SES ) and executive function ( EF ) has recently attracted attention within psychology, following reports of substantial SES disparities in children's EF . Adding to the importance of this relationship, EF has been proposed as a mediator of socioeconomic disparities in lifelong achievement and health. However, evidence about the relationship between childhood SES and EF is mixed, and there…
Checking in with Neuroethics
Like people, academic fields grow, acquire an identity, establish goals, and ultimately impact the world in various ways. Here we check in with our young friend Neuroethics—a field I want to see develop and thrive. This won't happen if it keeps returning to issues like cognitive enhancement or neural causation of behavior and responsibility, with minor adjustments of its analyses. Neuroethics is at its best when scanning the horizon for new scien…
Socioeconomic Status Disparities in Children’s Cognition—Differences in Degree or Kind
The “socioeconomic achievement gap” refers to socioeconomic disparities in children’s academic outcomes. Do these gaps invariably reflect cognitive processes that are similar in kind across the socioeconomic status (SES) spectrum but differ quantitatively in their efficacy? Or, in some cases, do they reflect cognitive processes that differ, in kind, between higher and lower SES, that is, qualitatively? In this systematic review, we used the ways …
Psychology (21 works) · Cognition (16 works) · Neuroscience (14 works) · Cognitive psychology (9 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies (8 works) · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations (7 works) · Psychiatry (7 works) · Cognitive science (6 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works)