Living in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods is directly linked to poorer brain health and accelerated biological aging of the brain. That is the conclusion reached by researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, according to infohub.kz.
The results of a retrospective study covering MRI data from 2,826 patients aged 18 to 96 were published in Radiology, the journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). According to News-Medical, residents of poor neighborhoods showed reduced brain volume and white matter damage.
To assess living standards, the researchers used the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), which is calculated from 17 indicators, including income, education, employment and housing conditions.
Lead researcher Dr. John-Paul J. Yu noted that people from the most deprived neighborhoods show a larger gap between the biological and chronological age of the brain, as well as a reduction in its overall volume.
In addition, MRI scans revealed a higher volume of white matter hyperintensities — bright areas that signal vascular damage caused by chronic stress, high blood pressure and lack of sleep — in residents of disadvantaged areas. According to the authors, such changes increase the risk of cognitive impairment, dementia and cardiovascular disease.
The researchers stress the need to take social and environmental factors into account when designing assistance programs and allocating health care resources.