Study Unveils How Societal Inequities are Linked to Brain Health in Aging and Dementia

3. Notably, associations persisted even after accounting for individual factors such as education, age, sex, and cognitive ability, underscoring the independent role of macro-level factors in shaping brain health. Living in a context of aggregate inequality affects brain health regardless of your specific socioeconomic level, demonstrating the far-reaching consequences of societal disparities on the brain.

First author Agustina Legaz, PhD from the ReDLat consortium, said,

“Our findings emphasize the urgency of integrating not only individual social determinants of health into global brain health research but also macro-level exposome factors, such as social and physical variables. These findings pave the way for future studies exploring the biological mechanisms linking aggregate inequality to aging and neurodegeneration.”

The study calls for a multi-level approach to brain health equity, examining the biological embedding of other macro-level exposome factors beyond socioeconomic inequality.

Reference: Legaz, A., Altschuler, F., Gonzalez-Gomez, R. et al. Structural inequality linked to brain volume and network dynamics in aging and dementia across the Americas. Nat Aging (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00781-2