Effects of Area Deprivation Index and individual-level socioeconomic status on cognitive and brain health among middle-aged and older adults

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Kelsey Horn¹ (khorn4@binghamton.edu), Sophia Robles¹, Ian McDonough¹; ¹Binghamton University

Area Deprivation Index (ADI) ranks neighborhoods based on census-block socioeconomic disadvantage. Research assessing the relationship between neighborhood indices and cognitive/brain health among middle-aged and older adults is still in its infancy. Further, it is not known how individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) factors relate to neighborhood-level factors. Participants (N=123) living in Alabama, USA, underwent neuroimaging and neuropsychological testing. Using state-level ADI scores, regression was used to examine associations between ADI and cognition/brain structure to replicate findings in hippocampal and frontal regions. After controlling for age and sex, ADI was negatively related to most cognitive domains. When individual-level factors were added, these relationships were no longer significant, suggesting shared variance on cognitive outcomes. In particular, racial category was the most significant variable sharing variance with ADI on cognitive outcomes. Also, hippocampal volume, but not frontal volume or thickness, was negatively related to ADI. Entering individual-level factors strengthened this relationship. The failure to replicate the effects of ADI on frontal volume may stem from interactions between ADI and income level; a negative correlation was found only for those with lower income, suggesting a protective effect on the frontal lobe for those with high incomes. Consistent with other studies, temporal volumes but not frontal volumes are consistently associated with ADI. Adding to the literature, ADI also was significantly related to multiple domains of cognition, including speed, episodic memory, and executive function. Further, the findings suggest later life racial cognitive disparities might be mitigated through neighborhood improvements to socioeconomic conditions.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Development & aging