Neighborhood-Level Socioeconomic Status and Brain MRI Findings

Socioeconomic factors may influence cognitive outcomes. For this study, researchers evaluated the effect of neighborhood advantage levels on the cerebral and hippocampal volumes in 951 cognitively unimpaired adult participants from two large cohorts in Wisconsin. Neighborhood disadvantage level was determined by a score derived from U.S. Census indices of poverty, education, employment, and physical environment. Cerebral and hippocampal volumes were determined by MRI. Cardiovascular risk also was obtained.

Those in the most disadvantaged neighborhood were more likely to be less educated and more likely to identify as black or African American. After adjustment for covariates, living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods was associated with…