Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with working memory and hippocampal volumes among older adults

ABSTRACT

It is not well understood how neighborhood disadvantage is associated with specific domains of cognitive function and underlying brain health within older adults. Thus, the objective was to examine associations between neighborhood disadvantage, brain health, and cognitive performance, and examine whether associations were more pronounced among women. The study included 136 older adults who underwent cognitive testing and MRI. Neighborhood disadvantage was characterized using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI). Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and multiple regressions were run. Multiple regressions, adjusted for age, sex, education, and depression, showed that higher ADI state rankings (greater disadvantage) were associated with poorer working memory performance (p < .01) and lower hippocampal volumes (p < .01), but not total, frontal, and white matter lesion volumes, nor visual and verbal memory performance. There were no significant sex interactions. Findings suggest that greater neighborhood disadvantage may play a role in working memory and underlying brain structure.

KEYWORDS:

• Neighborhood disadvantage
• cognitive function
• brain volumes
• older adults

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data sharing

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, R.W., upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by an IDeA Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences under grant number P20GM113125. Additional effort by co-authors Allan and Gamaldo was supported by the National Institute on Aging under grant numbers UF1 AG072619, UF1 AG072619-S1, and the South Carolina Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.