Relation Between 20-year Income Volatility and Brain Health in Midlife: The CARDIA Study

Overview

Journal Neurology

Specialty Neurology

Date 2019 Oct 4

PMID 31578298

Citations 19

Authors

Leslie Grasset

M Maria Glymour

Tali Elfassy

Samuel L Swift

Kristine Yaffe

Archana Singh-Manoux

Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Income volatility presents a growing public health threat. To our knowledge, no previous study examined the relationship among income volatility, cognitive function, and brain integrity.

Methods: We studied 3,287 participants aged 23-35 years in 1990 from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults prospective cohort study. Income volatility data were created using income data collected from 1990 to 2010 and defined as SD of percent change in income and number of income drops ≥25% (categorized as 0, 1, or 2+). In 2010, cognitive tests (n = 3,287) and brain scans (n = 716) were obtained.

Results: After covariate adjustment, higher income volatility was associated with worse performance on processing speed (β = -1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.73 to -0.44) and executive functioning (β = 2.53, 95% CI 0.60-4.50) but not on verbal memory (β = -0.02, 95% CI -0.16 to 0.11). Similarly, additional income drops were associated with worse performance on processing speed and executive functioning. Higher income volatility and more income drops were also associated with worse microstructural integrity of total brain and total white matter. All findings were similar when restricted to those with high education, suggesting reverse causation may not explain these findings.

Conclusion: Income volatility over a 20-year period of formative earning years was associated with worse cognitive function and brain integrity in midlife.

Citing Articles

Associations of serial negative income shock and all-cause mortality: a longitudinal study in China.

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20-Year income volatility and cognitive function in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979) cohort: A replication and extension of CARDIA findings.

Kezios K, Colvin C, Grasset L, Duarte C, Glymour M, Zeki Al Hazzouri A Soc Sci Med. 2025; 368:117798.

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Environmental and sociocultural factors are associated with pain-related brain structure among diverse individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain: intersectional considerations.

Domenico L, Tanner J, Mickle A, Terry E, Garvan C, Lai S Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):7796.

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