Wisch Julie K, Babulal Ganesh M, Petersen Kalen, Millar Peter R, Shacham Enbal, Scroggins Stephen, Boerwinkle Anna H, Flores Shaney, Keefe Sarah, Gordon Brian A, Morris John C, Ances Beau M
Department of Neurology Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis Missouri USA.
Department of Clinical Research and Leadership The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Washington, DC USA.
Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2023 Mar 16;15(1):e12413. doi: 10.1002/dad2.12413. eCollection 2023 Jan-Mar.
Health disparities arise from biological-environmental interactions. Neuroimaging cohorts are reaching sufficiently large sample sizes such that analyses could evaluate how the environment affects the brain. We present a practical guide for applying geospatial methods to a neuroimaging cohort.
We estimated brain age gap (BAG) from structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from 239 city-dwelling participants in St. Louis, Missouri. We compared these participants to population-level estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS). We used geospatial analysis to identify neighborhoods associated with patterns of altered brain structure. We also evaluated the relationship between Area Deprivation Index (ADI) and BAG.
We identify areas in St. Louis, Missouri that were significantly associated with higher BAG from a spatially representative cohort. We provide replication code.
We observe a relationship between neighborhoods and brain health, which suggests that neighborhood-based interventions could be appropriate. We encourage other studies to geocode participant information to evaluate biological-environmental interaction.
健康差异源于生物与环境的相互作用。神经影像学队列的样本量已足够大，使得分析能够评估环境对大脑的影响。我们提供了一份将地理空间方法应用于神经影像学队列的实用指南。
我们从密苏里州圣路易斯市239名城市居民参与者的结构磁共振成像（MRI）中估计脑龄差距（BAG）。我们将这些参与者与美国社区调查（ACS）的人口水平估计值进行比较。我们使用地理空间分析来识别与脑结构改变模式相关的社区。我们还评估了地区贫困指数（ADI）与BAG之间的关系。
我们从一个具有空间代表性的队列中识别出密苏里州圣路易斯市与较高BAG显著相关的区域。我们提供了复制代码。
我们观察到社区与大脑健康之间的关系，这表明基于社区的干预措施可能是合适的。我们鼓励其他研究对参与者信息进行地理编码，以评估生物与环境的相互作用。
