Link possibly involves greater burden of small vessel disease and modifiable risk factors
MONDAY, Nov. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Neighborhood deprivation is linked to poorer cognition in healthy, middle-aged adults, according to a study published online Nov. 5 in Alzheimer”s & Dementia.
Audrey Low, Ph.D., from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and colleagues used data from 585 healthy adults (aged 40 to 59 years) living in the United Kingdom and Ireland to assess why living in a disadvantaged neighborhood may be linked to an increase in an individual’s risk for dementia.
The researchers found that neighborhood deprivation was associated with poorer cognition (r = 0.36), greater prevalence of modifiable risk factors (r = 0.36), and greater small vessel disease (SVD) burden (β = 0.18). The effects of deprivation on cognition were indirect, according to serial mediation, possibly operating via lifestyle risk and SVD, explaining 20 percent of the total effect, whereas SVD alone explained 28 percent.
“Where you live clearly plays an important role in your brain health and risk of dementia, putting people living in deprived neighborhoods at a serious disadvantage,” senior author John O’Brien, also from the University of Cambridge, said in a statement. “This risk is preventable, but our work shows it’s not enough to assume it”s down to the individual.”
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