Testing the Association Between Neighborhood Disadvantage and White Matter Hyperintensities

Social determinants of health—the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play—have been shown to affect a broad range of health outcomes, including risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). However, the biological mechanisms by which socio‐contextual factors increase risk for ADRD are poorly known. Higher levels of neighborhood disadvantage have been linked with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. CVD risk has been associated with white matter lesions known as white matter hyperintensities (WMH) because they produce increased signal on fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI scans. WMH have been associated with increased risk for stroke, cognitive decline, and dementia. We investigated whether greater neighborhood‐level disadvantage was associated with greater WMH volume.