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Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with accelerated cortical thinning and cognitive decline in cognitively unimpaired adults
Jack F.V. Hunt, Nicholas M Vogt, Erin McMullen Jonaitis, William R. Buckingham, Rebecca L. Koscik, Megan L. Zuelsdorff, Ozioma C. Okonkwo, Lindsay R. Clark et al.. Alzheimer s & Dementia, 2020-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Exposure to high neighborhood‐level socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with negative health outcomes. Recent cross‐sectional studies demonstrated that living in the most highly disadvantaged areas was associated with lower hippocampal volume, total brain volume1 and cognitive performance2 in an unimpaired older cohort. Result Living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods (top 20% ADI vs all others) was associated with decreasing cortical thickness over time within AD‐signature region (b[95%CI]=‐0.02mm/year[‐0.03,‐0.005], p=0.01) and sub‐regions (Fig.1). Conclusion In cognitively unimpaired adults, exposure to the highest relative levels of neighborhood‐level disadvantage was associated with increased rates of cortical thinning and declining cognitive test performance, particularly in the executive function domain. Using longitudinal data, this work extends previous cross‐sectional studies, providing additional evidence that living in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods may be associated with accelerated neurodegeneration and cognitive decline with implications for AD and related dementia risk assessment.
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APA 7th
Hunt, J. F., Vogt, N. M., Jonaitis, E. M., Buckingham, W. R., Koscik, R. L., Zuelsdorff, M. L., et al. (2020). Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with accelerated cortical thinning and cognitive decline in cognitively unimpaired adults. Alzheimer s & Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.043170
Vancouver
Hunt JF, Vogt NM, Jonaitis EM, Buckingham WR, Koscik RL, Zuelsdorff ML, et al. Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with accelerated cortical thinning and cognitive decline in cognitively unimpaired adults. Alzheimer s & Dementia. 2020. doi:10.1002/alz.043170.
BibTeX
@article{hunt2020-813cddb5,
author = {Hunt, Jack F.V. and Vogt, Nicholas M and Jonaitis, Erin McMullen and Buckingham, William R. and Koscik, Rebecca L. and Zuelsdorff, Megan L. and Okonkwo, Ozioma C. and Clark, Lindsay R. and others},
title = {{Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with accelerated cortical thinning and cognitive decline in cognitively unimpaired adults}},
journal = {Alzheimer s \& Dementia},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1002/alz.043170},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.043170}
}
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Key findings
- Exposure to high neighborhood‐level socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with negative health outcomes.
- Recent cross‐sectional studies demonstrated that living in the most highly disadvantaged areas was associated with lower hippocampal volume, total brain volume1 and cognitive performance2 in an unimpaired older cohort.
- Result Living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods (top 20% ADI vs all others) was associated with decreasing cortical thickness over time within AD‐signature region (b[95%CI]=‐0.02mm/year[‐0.03,‐0.005], p=0.01) and sub‐regions (Fig.1).
- Conclusion In cognitively unimpaired adults, exposure to the highest relative levels of neighborhood‐level disadvantage was associated with increased rates of cortical thinning and declining cognitive test performance, particularly in the executive function domain.
- Using longitudinal data, this work extends previous cross‐sectional studies, providing additional evidence that living in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods may be associated with accelerated neurodegeneration and cognitive decline with implications for AD and related dementia risk assessment.
Why it matters
In cognitively unimpaired adults, living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods was linked to faster thinning of the cortex over time and declining cognitive test performance, especially in executive function. This is longitudinal evidence of an association, not proof that neighborhood disadvantage causes the changes.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants645
- Effect size66.2%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer s & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 645 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 4 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.5 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 3 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Amy Kind: h-index 47 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Wisconsin–Madison: institution h-index 1,518 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Later studies that cite this one
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