Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Modifiable lifestyle factors influencing neurological and psychiatric disorders mediated by structural brain reserve:
Yiran Dong1, Pan Zhang1, Jinghui Zhong1
1Department of Neurology, Centre for Leading Medicine and Advanced Technologies of IHM, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China.
Background:
Modifiable lifestyle factors are implicated as risk factors for neurological and psychiatric disorders, but whether these associations are causal remains uncertain. We aimed to evaluate associations and ascertain causal relationships between modifiable lifestyle factors, neurological and psychiatric disorder risk, and brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers.
Methods:
We analyzed data from over 50,000 UK Biobank participants with self-reported lifestyle factors, including alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, diet, sleep, electronic device use, and sexual factors. Primary outcomes were stroke, all-cause dementia, Parkinson's disease (PD), Major depression disorder (MDD), Anxiety Disorders (ANX), and Bipolar Disorder (BIP), alongside MRI markers. Summary statistics were obtained from genome-wide association studies and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses investigated bidirectional associations between lifestyle factors, neurological/psychiatric disorders, and MRI markers, with mediation assessed using multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR).
Results:
Cross-sectional analyses identified lifestyle factors were associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders and brain morphology. MR confirmed causal relationships, including lifetime smoking index on Stroke, PD, MDD, ANX and BIP; play computer games on BIP; leisure screen time on Stroke and MDD; automobile speeding propensity on MDD; sexual factors on MDD and BIP; sleep characteristics on BIP and MDD. Brain structure mediated several lifestyle-disorder associations, such as daytime dozing and dementia, lifetime smoking and PD and age first had sexual intercourse and PD.
Conclusion:
Our results provide support for a causal effect of multiple lifestyle measures on the risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders, with brain structural morphology serving as a potential biological mediator in their associations.
More Related Videos
05:52Handwriting Analysis Indicates Spontaneous Dyskinesias in Neuroleptic Naïve Adolescents at High Risk for Psychosis
Published on: November 21, 2013
08:29Symmetric Bihemispheric Postmortem Brain Cutting to Study Healthy and Pathological Brain Conditions in Humans
Published on: December 18, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Biological Causes of Schizophrenia
Genetic Factors in Schizophrenia
The genetic basis of schizophrenia is strongly supported by family and twin...
Biological Influences on Intelligence
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Disorders of the Nervous Tissue
Homeostatic Imbalances:
Alzheimer's disease manifests as a gradual decline in memory and cognitive abilities, attributed to the buildup of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain.
Parkinson's disease arises...
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...