WeightControl.com Interview with:
Arpana Gupta, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Co-Director: Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center at UCLA
Director: Neuroimaging Core
G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience
Ingestive Behavior and Obesity Program
UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine
UCLA Los Angeles, CA
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Neighborhood characteristics, such as crowding, number of households in poverty, and rate of unemployment, have an effect on health, including brain health, beyond one’s individual income/education level.
Our study adds to this evidence by showing an effect of neighborhood disadvantage on an important brain feature, cortical microsctructure, which impacts brain communication and information processing.
Further, we found that some of the effect, particularly in brain areas involved in emotion, reward, and cognitive functions, was related to increased body mass index in poorer quality neighborhoods.
WeightControl.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: We hope our study brings a greater appreciation for how neighborhoods shape us and impact our health. This may lead to more effective policies in the future, especially regarding availability of nutritious food.
WeightControl.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: Studies on the ability of diet- and exercise-related interventions to mitigate the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on cortical microstructure and other brain features are needed to further inform policy-making and improve public health.
This study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIMHD)
Citation: Kilpatrick, L.A., Zhang, K., Dong, T.S. et al. Mediation of the association between disadvantaged neighborhoods and cortical microstructure by body mass index. Commun Med 3, 122 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-023-00350-5
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-023-00350-5#citeas
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Last Updated on September 18, 2023 by weightcontrol