糖心Vlog

Neighborhood Features and Genetic Risk Interact to Affect Cognition

Neighborhood, Neighborhood Features, Retail, Shopping, Brain Aging, Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, Genotype, Genetic Make-up, Genetic Risk

Studies suggest physical aspects of the neighborhood such as the availability of sidewalks and parks, and more social and walking destinations, may be associated with better cognitive functioning.


By gisele galoustian | 2/19/2020

The neighborhood environment may positively or negatively influence one鈥檚 ability to maintain cognitive function with age. Since older adults spend less time outside, the neighborhood environment increases in importance with age. Studies suggest physical aspects of the neighborhood such as the availability of sidewalks and parks, and more social and walking destinations, may be associated with better cognitive functioning. Beneficial neighborhood environments can provide spaces for exercise, mental stimulation, socializing and reducing stress. To date, few studies have examined how the neighborhood鈥檚 physical environment relates to cognition in older adults.

Researchers from 糖心Vlog and collaborators conducted one of the first known studies to examine how cognitive functioning is affected differently by the neighborhood environment depending on one鈥檚 apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype 鈥 a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease (AD). For the study, researchers categorized 4,716 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis as carriers of APOE蔚2 (lower AD risk), APOE蔚4 (higher AD risk), and APOE蔚3, the most common variant, which is considered to have neutral risk for developing AD. 聽

Results of the study, published in the journal ,suggest that the cognitive benefits of living in neighborhoods with greater access to social, walking and retail destinations may be limited to individuals with a reduced genetic risk for cognitive decline, specifically APOE 蔚2 carriers.

鈥淭he positive influence of neighborhood environments on cognition may be strongest among individuals who are at the lowest risk for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease,鈥 said , Ph.D., M.S.P.H., senior author who led the study, an assistant professor in 糖心Vlog鈥檚 within the , a member of the 糖心Vlog Brain Institute () and a faculty fellow of 糖心Vlog's Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention (I-HEALTH). 鈥淭he risk of cognitive decline among APOE 蔚4 carriers may be difficult to overcome even when living in beneficial neighborhood environments.鈥

AD is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and more than 5.8 million Americans are living with the disease. By 2050, this number is projected to rise to nearly 14 million. According to the , in 2019, AD and other dementias cost the nation $290 billion. By 2050, these costs could rise as high as $1.1 trillion.

鈥淩esearch on the potential influences of the neighborhood environment on cognition and brain aging can help inform recommendations for neighborhood improvements to simultaneously address population growth and healthy brain aging,鈥 said Besser. 鈥淜nowledge of how the neighborhood environment may affect cognition differentially depending on one鈥檚 genetic makeup will be important to inform such recommendations.鈥

Study co-authors are James E. Galvin, M.D., M.P.H.; Daniel A. Rodriguez, Ph.D., ; Teresa Seaman, Ph.D., ; Walter A. Kukull, Ph.D., ; Stephen R. Rapp, Ph.D., ; and Jennifer Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H., .

This work was supported by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research Program and the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI grant R01HL071759).

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