Neighborhood environment associations with cognitive function and structural brain measures in older African...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Neuroscience
• Epigenetics

Background:

• Neighborhood environments impact older adults' cognitive function and dementia risk.
• Factors include socioeconomic status, food access, and social engagement.
• DNA methylation may mediate these neighborhood-cognition links.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if DNA methylation mediates the association between neighborhood characteristics and cognitive function or white matter hyperintensity (WMH).
• Study focused on older African American participants without dementia.

Main Methods:

• Examined DNA methylation in peripheral blood leukocytes.
• Assessed neighborhood characteristics using a 1-mile buffer around residences.
• Analyzed cognitive function (N=542) and WMH (N=466) in Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy (GENOA) participants.

Main Results:

• Increased fast food and alcohol-selling stores per square mile were nominally associated with improved visual conceptual tracking and delayed recall.
• No association was found between neighborhood characteristics and WMH.
• DNA methylation did not mediate the observed neighborhood-cognition associations.

Conclusions:

• Certain neighborhood food environments may be linked to cognitive measures, potentially via social interaction.
• Replication is needed to confirm these findings.
• Further research into neighborhood-cognition pathways could inform interventions for healthy brain aging.