Socioeconomic status is positively correlated with frontal white matter integrity in aging

Abstract

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an important reserve variable which has been shown to benefit the aging brain's macrostructure. However, it remains unknown whether SES affects age-related changes in the brain's white matter (WM) microstructure. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging to explore the relationship between SES and three components of the diffusion tensor [fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity (DR)]. Participants were 40 (16 male) cognitively normal young adults (mean age=33.3 years, SD=4.27) and 44 (19 male) cognitively normal community dwelling seniors (mean age=66.2 years, SD= 7.5). Age-related FA declines were observed across a large portion of the WM skeleton. However, seniors with high SES showed lower age-related WM integrity declines in three frontal tracts: the right anterior corona radiata and bilateral portions of WM underlying the superior frontal gyri (SFG-WM). Positive SES-FA correlations were primarily driven by negative DR-SES correlations, suggesting that SES may buffer age-related declines in myelin. The functional significance of high SES in these frontal tracts was demonstrated through positive correlations with working memory performance. Possible mechanisms through which SES may attenuate the effects of age on frontal WM integrity are discussed.

Brain white matter structural properties predict transition to chronic pain

“…Reported results are consistent across labs and generally show that FA, especially in frontal cortex white matter, decreases by about 0.1 over a 60-year age range, and whole-brain skeletal FA decreases by about 0.03 over a 30 year age difference [14; 22; 29; 37]. As the mean age of all three subject groups studied here were within a 10 year range and SBP subgroups showed small but significant age differences, throughout this study we used age as a confound of no interest.…”

“…Multiple studies indicate that white matter FA decreases with aging [14; 22; 29; 37]. Reported results are consistent across labs and generally show that FA, especially in frontal cortex white matter, decreases by about 0.1 over a 60-year age range, and whole-brain skeletal FA decreases by about 0.03 over a 30 year age difference [14; 22; 29; 37].…”

Sex-Specific Alterations of White Matter Developmental Trajectories in Infants With Prenatal Exposure to Methamphetamine and Tobacco

“…59 The higher levels of nicotine exposure might have contributed to greater abnormalities on DTI in methamphetamine/tobacco-exposed compared with tobacco-exposed neonates. Furthermore, maternal factors that might contribute to these abnormal findings include higher probabilities of having moderate to severe substance use disorder and alcohol use on SASSI, higher BDI-II scores, 60 and lower socioeconomic status 61 or educational levels, 62 which are all typical of methamphetamine users 63 compared with non-drug users. However, none of these variables, except for greater stimulant use, contributed to the DTI abnormalities.…”

How Socioeconomic Disadvantages Get Under the Skin and into the Brain to Influence Health Development Across the Lifespan

“…In another study, neighborhood deprivation alone was also associated with a less efficient and noisier neural network among men aged 35-64 (Krishnadas et al 2013a). When both young adults and elders were compared, education attainment was not associated with brain structure in young adults but was positively associated with white matter integrity in seniors age 65 and above (Johnson et al 2013). Reduced white matter integrity in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus was further associated with poor working memory performance in seniors with low educational attainment.…”