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Income inequality, gene expression, and brain maturation during adolescence.


ABSTRACT: Income inequality is associated with poor health and social outcomes. Negative social comparisons and competition may involve the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes in underlying some of these complex inter-relationships. Here we investigate brain maturation, indexed by age-related decreases in cortical thickness, in adolescents living in neighborhoods with differing levels of income inequality and household income. We examine whether inter-regional variations relate to those in glucocorticoid receptor (HPA) and androgen receptor (HPG) gene expression. For each sex, we used a median split of income inequality and household income (income-to-needs ratio) to create four subgroups. In female adolescents, the high-inequality low-income group displayed the greatest age-related decreases in cortical thickness. In this group, expression of glucocorticoid and androgen receptor genes explained the most variance in these age-related decreases in thickness across the cortex. We speculate that female adolescents living in high-inequality neighborhoods and low-income households may experience greater HPA and HPG activity, leading to steeper decreases in cortical thickness with age.

SUBMITTER: Parker N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5547165 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Income inequality, gene expression, and brain maturation during adolescence.

Parker Nadine N   Wong Angelita Pui-Yee AP   Leonard Gabriel G   Perron Michel M   Pike Bruce B   Richer Louis L   Veillette Suzanne S   Pausova Zdenka Z   Paus Tomas T  

Scientific reports 20170807 1


Income inequality is associated with poor health and social outcomes. Negative social comparisons and competition may involve the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes in underlying some of these complex inter-relationships. Here we investigate brain maturation, indexed by age-related decreases in cortical thickness, in adolescents living in neighborhoods with differing levels of income inequality and household income. We examine whether inter-regiona  ...[more]

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