Associations Between Socioeconomic Status, Obesity, Cognition, and White Matter Microstructure in Children

Social network size, empathy, and white matter: A diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study

Social networks are fundamental for social interactions, with the social brain hypothesis positing that the size of the neocortex evolved to meet social demands. However, the role of fractional anisotropy (FA) in white matter (WM) tracts relevant to mentalizing, empathy, and social networks remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the relationships between FA in brain regions associated with social cognition (superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), cingulum (CING), uncinate fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus), social network characteristics (diversity, size, complexity), and empathy (cognitive, affective). We employed diffusion tensor imaging, tract-based spatial statistics, and mediation analyses to examine these associations. Our findings revealed that increased social network size was positively correlated with FA in the left SLF. Further, our mediation analysis showed that lower FA in left CING was associated with increased social network size, mediated by cognitive empathy. In summary, our findings suggest that WM tracts involved in social cognition play distinct roles in social network size and empathy, potentially implicating affective brain regions. In conclusion, our findings offer new perspectives on the cognitive mechanisms involved in understanding others' mental states and experiencing empathy within supportive social networks, with potential implications for understanding individual differences in social behavior and mental health.

Neurodevelopmental imprints of sociomarkers in adolescent brain connectomes

Neural consequences of social disparities are not yet rigorously investigated. How socioeconomic conditions influence children's connectome development remains unknown. This paper endeavors to gauge how precisely the connectome structure of the brain can predict an individual's social environment, thereby inversely assessing how social influences are engraved in the neural development of the Adolescent brain. Utilizing Adolescent Brain and Cognition Development (ABCD) data (9099 children residing in the United States), we found that social conditions both at the household and neighborhood levels are significantly associated with specific neural connections. Solely with brain connectome data, we train a linear support vector machine (SVM) to predict socio-economic conditions of those adolescents. The classification performance generally improves when the thresholds of the advantageous and disadvantageous environments compartmentalize the extreme cases. Among the tested thresholds, the 20th and 80th percentile thresholds using the dual combination of household income and neighborhood education yielded the highest Area Under the Precision-Recall Curve (AUPRC) of 0.8224. We identified 8 significant connections that critically contribute to predicting social environments in the parietal lobe and frontal lobe. Insights into social factors that contribute to early brain connectome development is critical to mitigate the disadvantages of children growing up in unfavorable neighborhoods.

Isotemporal substitution of sedentary behavior with physical activity and its influence on depressive symptoms among adults with overweight/obesity in the United States: A cross-sectional study

Objective

This cross-sectional study examined the influence of sedentary behavior (SB) time substitution with physical activity (PA) on depressive symptoms among adults with overweight/obesity. SB time was replaced with equal amount of walking/bicycling or leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA).

Methods

Data of the 18344 adults, who were overweight and obesity was obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2006-2018. PA of participants was measured by the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Depressive symptoms, including overall, somatic, and cognitive depressive symptoms were assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Isotemporal substitution model based on weighted multiple linear regression was used to assess the association of SB time substitution with PA on depressive symptoms.

Results

Independent model analysis showed that 30 min/day SB time was significantly associated with higher PHQ-9 depressive symptoms, while engage in walking/bicycling or leisure-time MVPA for 30 min/day was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Isotemporal substitution analyses revealed that replacing 30 min/day SB time with equal amount of walking/bicycling or leisure-time MVPA was associated with significant lower PHQ-9 total scores (walking/bicycling: β = -0.088, 95%CI = -0.129, -0.047, P < 0.01; MVPA: β = -0.160, 95%CI = -0.185, -0.134, P < 0.01). Moreover, cognitive depressive symptoms (walking/bicycling: β = -0.035, 95%CI = -0.058, -0.013, P < 0.01; MVPA: β = -0.074, 95%CI = -0.088, -0.060, P < 0.01), and somatic depressive symptoms (walking/bicycling: β = -0.053, 95%CI = -0.075, -0.030, P < 0.01; MVPA: β = -0.085, 95%CI = -0.100, -0.071, P < 0.01) were also significantly lower after replacing SB time with either walking/bicycling or MVPA. However, replacing 30 min/day PA with SB time represented with higher depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

Replacing SB time with walking/bicycling or MVPA is beneficial in lowering the depressive symptoms among overweight/obese adults. Owing to the benefits of PA on depression, strategies promoting PA participation, are necessary for better social/mental well-being and healthy society.

Childhood obesity's effect on cognition and brain connectivity worsens with low family income

Childhood obesity and its adverse health consequences have risen worldwide, with low socioeconomic status increasing the risk in high-income countries like the United States. Understanding the interplay between childhood obesity, cognition, socioeconomic factors, and the brain is crucial for prevention and treatment. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, we investigated how body mass index (BMI) relates to brain structural and functional connectivity metrics. Children with obesity or who are overweight (n = 2,356) were more likely to live in poverty and exhibited lower cognitive performance compared with children with a healthy weight (n = 4,754). Higher BMI was associated with multiple brain measures that were strongest for lower longitudinal diffusivity in corpus callosum; increased activity in cerebellum, insula, and somatomotor cortex; and decreased functional connectivity in multimodal brain areas, with effects more pronounced among children from low-income families. Notably, nearly 80% of the association of low income and 70% of the association of impaired cognition on BMI were mediated by higher brain activity in somatomotor areas. Increased resting activity in somatomotor areas and decreased structural and functional connectivity likely contribute to the higher risk of being overweight or having obesity among children from low-income families. Supporting low-income families and implementing educational interventions to improve cognition may promote healthy brain function and reduce the risk of obesity.

Early childhood executive control modulates negative affectivity's role in increasing adolescent body mass index trajectories

BACKGROUND

Executive control and temperament have been associated with pediatric obesity. However, interactions between these constructs in relation to future weight outcomes have not been investigated.

OBJECTIVE

This longitudinal study examined early childhood executive control, early temperament (negative affectivity and surgency), and their interactions as predictors of adolescent BMI trajectories.

METHODS

At age 5.25, children (N = 229) completed executive control tasks, and parents completed the Child Behavior Questionnaire to assess temperament. BMI was calculated annually between ages 14-17.

RESULTS

Greater early negative affectivity predicted more positive BMI growth. Although early childhood executive control was not associated with BMI growth, greater negative affectivity predicted greater BMI escalation at average and below average executive control abilities.

CONCLUSIONS

For children without robust executive control abilities early in development, negative affectivity may be a risk factor for accelerated adolescent BMI growth. Targeted assessment of early risk factors may be useful for childhood obesity prevention efforts.

Urban environment during pregnancy and childhood and white matter microstructure in preadolescence in two European birth cohorts

Growing evidence suggests that urban environment may influence cognition and behavior in children, but the underlying pollutant and neurobiological mechanisms are unclear. We evaluated the association of built environment and urban natural space indicators during pregnancy and childhood with brain white matter microstructure in preadolescents, and examined the potential mediating role of air pollution and road-traffic noise. We used data of the Generation R Study, a population-based birth cohort in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (n = 2725; 2002-2006) for the primary analyses. Replication of the main findings was attempted on an independent neuroimaging dataset from the PELAGIE birth cohort, France (n = 95; 2002-2006). We assessed exposures to 12 built environment and 4 urban natural spaces indicators from conception up to 9 years of age. We computed 2 white matter microstructure outcomes (i.e., average of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) from 12 white matte tracts) from diffusion tensor imaging data. Greater distance to the nearest major green space during pregnancy was associated with higher whole-brain FA (0.001 (95%CI 0.000; 0.002) per 7 m increase), and higher land use diversity during childhood was associated with lower whole-brain MD (-0.001 (95%CI -0.002; -0.000) per 0.12-point increase), with no evidence of mediation by air pollution nor road-traffic noise. Higher percentage of transport and lower surrounding greenness during pregnancy were associated with lower whole-brain FA, and road-traffic noise mediated 19% and 52% of these associations, respectively. We found estimates in the same direction in the PELAGIE cohort, although confidence intervals were larger and included the null. This study suggests an association between urban environment and white matter microstructure, mainly through road-traffic noise, indicating that greater access to green space nearby might promote white matter development.

Struggling Can Also Show on the Inside: Current Knowledge of the Impact of Childhood Maltreatment on Biomarkers in Mood Disorders

The link between childhood maltreatment and mood disorders is complex and involves multiple bio-psycho-social factors that affect multiple molecular pathways. The present narrative review aims to clarify the current understanding of the impact of childhood maltreatment on biomarkers in patients with mood disorders and their first-degree relatives. Neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and hormones (eg the stress hormone cortisol), play a crucial role in regulating mood and emotion. Childhood maltreatment can alter and affect the levels and functioning of these neurotransmitters in the brain; further, childhood maltreatment can lead to structural and connectivity changes in the brain, hence contributing to the development of mood disorders and moderating illness presentation and modifying response to treatments. Childhood maltreatment information, therefore, appears mandatory in treatment planning and is a critical factor in therapeutic algorithms. Further research is needed to fully understand these pathways and develop new treatment modalities for individuals with mood disorders who have experienced childhood maltreatment and effective preventive interventions for individuals at risk of developing mood disorders.

Socioeconomic Disparities in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Regulation and Prefrontal Cortical Structure

Socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood predicts an increased risk for mental health problems across the life span. Socioeconomic disadvantage shapes multiple aspects of children's proximal environments and increases exposure to chronic stressors. Drawing from multiple literatures, we propose that childhood socioeconomic disadvantage may lead to adaptive changes in the regulation of stress response systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. These changes, in turn, affect the development of prefrontal cortical (PFC) circuitry responsible for top-down control over cognitive and emotional processes. Translational findings indicate that chronic stress reduces dendritic complexity and spine density in the medial PFC and anterior cingulate cortex, in part through altered HPA axis regulation. Socioeconomic disadvantage has frequently been associated with reduced gray matter in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC and anterior cingulate cortex and lower fractional anisotropy in the superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum bundle, and uncinate fasciculus during middle childhood and adolescence. Evidence of socioeconomic disparities in hair cortisol concentrations in children has accumulated, although null findings have been reported. Coupled with links between cortisol levels and reduced gray matter in the PFC and anterior cingulate cortex, these results support mechanistic roles for the HPA axis and these PFC circuits. Future longitudinal studies should simultaneously consider multiple dimensions of proximal factors, including cognitive stimulation, while focusing on epigenetic processes and genetic moderators to elucidate how socioeconomic context may influence the HPA axis and PFC circuitry involved in cognitive and emotional control. These findings, which point to modifiable factors, can be harnessed to inform policy and more effective prevention strategies.