From the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work (Hackman), University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; and Department of Psychology (Kuan, Manuck, Gianaros), Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (Gianaros), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Psychosom Med. 2018 May;80(4):336-344. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000566.
Socioeconomic position (SEP) is associated with cerebrovascular health and brain function, particularly in prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe regions that exhibit plasticity across the life course. However, it is unknown whether SEP associates with resting cerebral blood flow (CBF), an indicator of baseline brain function, in these regions in midlife, and whether the association is (a) period specific, with independent associations for childhood and adulthood SEP, or driven by life course SEP, and (b) explained by a persistent disparity, widening disparity, or the leveling of disparities with age.
To address these questions, we analyzed cerebral perfusion derived by magnetic resonance imaging in a cross-sectional study of healthy adults (N = 443) who reported on childhood and adult SEP. Main effects were examined as an index of persistent disparity and age by SEP interactions as reflecting widening or leveling disparities.
Stable high SEP across the lifespan was associated with higher global CBF and regional CBF (rCBF) in inferior frontal gyrus. However, childhood SEP was associated with rCBF in middle frontal gyrus, as moderated by age (β = 0.04, p = .035): rCBF was inversely associated with age only for those whose parents had a high school education or below. No associations were observed for the hippocampus or amygdala.
Life course SEP associations with rCBF in prefrontal cortex are suggestive of persistent disparities, whereas the age by childhood SEP interaction suggests that childhood disadvantage relates to a widening disparity, independent of global differences. These differential patterns in midlife may relate to disparities in later-life cerebrovascular and neurocognitive outcomes.
社会经济地位(SEP)与脑血管健康和大脑功能相关,尤其是在大脑前额叶皮层和内侧颞叶等具有终生可塑性的区域。然而,目前尚不清楚 SEP 是否与静息脑血流(CBF)相关,后者是大脑功能的基线指标,以及这种相关性是否(a)具有时期特异性,即童年和成年时期的 SEP 分别具有独立性,或者受整个生命周期的 SEP 影响,以及(b)是否由持续的、扩大的或缩小的差异来解释。
为了解决这些问题,我们对健康成年人(N=443)进行了一项横断面研究,他们报告了童年和成年时期的 SEP,并通过磁共振成像分析了大脑灌注情况。主要效应被视为持久差异的指标,而 SEP 之间的相互作用则反映了差异的扩大或缩小。
整个生命周期中稳定的高 SEP 与下额前回的全局 CBF 和局部 CBF(rCBF)较高有关。然而,童年时期的 SEP 与中额前回的 rCBF 有关,且受年龄的调节(β=0.04,p=0.035):仅对于那些父母受过高中或以下教育的人来说,rCBF 与年龄呈负相关。在海马体或杏仁核中未观察到相关性。
生命历程 SEP 与前额叶皮层 rCBF 的相关性表明存在持续的差异,而童年时期 SEP 与年龄的相互作用表明,童年时期的劣势与扩大的差异有关,与全球差异无关。这些差异模式可能与中老年时期的脑血管和神经认知结果的差异有关。