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Figure 1From Cerebral Circulation - Cognition and Behavior
Brain agingHumans

Disadvantaged neighborhoods tie to lower brain vascular function

In 132 older adults, greater neighborhood deprivation was associated with lower whole-brain cerebrovascular reactivity, independent of traditional vascular risks and Alzheimer's pathology.

Cerebral Circulation - Cognition and Behavior

In 132 older adults without a history of clinical stroke or dementia, greater neighborhood deprivation was associated with reduced cerebrovascular function. Researchers quantified neighborhood deprivation using the Area Deprivation Index and evaluated participants with brain MRI and venipuncture. They measured spontaneous whole-brain cerebrovascular reactivity as the percent change in resting cerebral blood flow per unit change in end-tidal CO2. Participants living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods showed lower whole-brain cerebrovascular reactivity after adjusting for age and sex (p = 0.027). Further adjustments for APOE ε4 carrier status, vascular risk factors, and the plasma Alzheimer's disease biomarker p-tau217 did not alter the results.

Why it matters

The findings show that social and environmental disadvantage can compromise cerebrovascular function in older age independently of traditional vascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Caveats

The study was observational in a cohort of 132 older adults, and the authors note that further research using more diverse samples and a life-course model is warranted.

The paper

Older adults in more disadvantaged neighborhoods exhibit brain vascular dysfunction

Law KW, Engstrom AC, Lohman T et al.

Cerebral Circulation - Cognition and Behavior · 15 Sep 2026

doi.org/10.1016/j.cccb.2026.100562 PubMed

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