Income inequality, gene expression, and brain maturation during adolescence.
Sci Rep
; 7(1): 7397, 2017 08 07.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28784996
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.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Encéfalo
/
Receptores Androgénicos
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Receptores de Glucocorticoides
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Expresión Génica
Aspecto:
Equity_inequality
Límite:
Adolescent
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Año:
2017
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá