Low neighborhood deprivation buffers against hippocampal neurodegeneration, white matter hyperintensities, and poorer cognition

• Main Authors: TAN, Chin Hong, TAN, Jacinth Jia Xin
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2023
• Subjects: socioeconomic inequalities; brain and cognitive health; older adults; neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES); neurodegeneration; cerebrovascular disease; cognitive function; neighborhood deprivation; Townsend deprivation index; individual SES; household income; education levels; hippocampus volume; cortical thickness; white matter hyperintensities; cognition; UK Biobank; vulnerability; neuroprotective effect; Cognition and Perception; Gerontology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3890
• Institution: Singapore Management University

There is increasing recognition that socioeconomic inequalities contribute to disparities in brain and cognitive health in older adults. However, whether neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) buffers individuals with low individual SES against neurodegeneration, cerebrovascular disease, and poorer cognitive function is not well understood. Here, we evaluated whether neighborhood deprivation (Townsend deprivation index) interacted with individual SES (composite household income and education levels) on hippocampus volume, regional cortical thickness, white matter hyperintensities, and cognition in 19,638 individuals (mean age = 54.8) from the UK Biobank. We found that individuals with low individual SES had the smallest hippocampal volumes, greatest white matter hyperintensity burden, and poorest cognition if they were living in high deprivation neighborhoods but that these deleterious effects on brain and cognitive function were attenuated if they were living in low deprivation neighborhoods (p for interactions