Sackler Institute of Psychobiological Research, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Psychosom Med. 2013 Sep;75(7):616-23. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3182a151a7. Epub 2013 Aug 24.
Neighborhood-level socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with poor cognitive function pertaining to language and the executive control. Few studies have explored the cortical morphology of regions most commonly associated with these functions. The aim of this study was to examine the association between neighborhood-level deprivation and the morphology of cortical regions associated with language and executive control in adults.
Using a cross-sectional study design, we compared the cortical morphology of 42 neurologically healthy adult men from the least deprived and most deprived neighborhoods of Glasgow. We performed surface-based morphometry on 3-T structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images to extract the cortical morphology--volume, thickness (CT), and surface area (SA) of regions commonly associated with language and executive control. Cortical morphology was compared between the two groups. We used mediation analysis to examine whether cardiometabolic risk factors mediated the relationship between deprivation status and cortical morphology.
Intracranial volume and mean total CT did not differ between groups. The deprived group had significantly smaller left posterior parietal cortex SA (Cohen d = 0.89) and fusiform cortex SA (Cohen d = 1.05). They also had thinner left Wernicke's area (Cohen d =0.93) and its right homologue (Cohen d = 1.12). Among the cardiometabolic markers, a composite factor comprising inflammatory markers mediated the relationship between deprivation status and Wernicke's area CT.
A group of neurologically healthy men from deprived neighborhoods showed significantly smaller cortical morphology--both SA and CT--in regions of the brain pertaining to language and executive function. We provide additional evidence of a relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and cortical morphology.
社区层面的社会经济剥夺与语言和执行控制相关的认知功能下降有关。很少有研究探讨与这些功能最相关的大脑皮质形态。本研究旨在研究社区层面的剥夺与与语言和执行控制相关的大脑皮质区域形态之间的关系。
我们采用横断面研究设计，比较了来自格拉斯哥最贫困和最富裕社区的 42 名神经健康成年男性的皮质形态。我们对 3T 结构磁共振成像（MRI）图像进行了基于表面的形态测量，以提取与语言和执行控制相关的区域的皮质形态-体积、厚度（CT）和表面积（SA）。比较了两组之间的皮质形态。我们使用中介分析来检验心脏代谢风险因素是否在剥夺状况和皮质形态之间的关系中起中介作用。
两组之间的颅内体积和平均总 CT 没有差异。与对照组相比，剥夺组的左侧后顶叶皮质 SA（Cohen d = 0.89）和梭状回皮质 SA（Cohen d = 1.05）明显较小。他们的左侧韦尼克区（Cohen d = 0.93）及其右侧同源区（Cohen d = 1.12）的 CT 也较薄。在心脏代谢标志物中，炎症标志物综合因子介导了剥夺状态与韦尼克区 CT 之间的关系。
一组来自贫困社区的神经健康男性在与语言和执行功能相关的大脑区域表现出明显较小的皮质形态-无论是 SA 还是 CT。我们提供了社会经济剥夺与皮质形态之间关系的额外证据。
