Socioeconomic life history has a profound impact of an individual's psychological and somatic well being. Because brain health influences cognition and emotional processing, it is imperative to understand the effects of social environment on the structural and molecular organization of the brain. Here we use modern neuroinformatics tools in a large (n = 40,000) database of molecular and structural brain images. The neuroimaging data are linked with register data on somatic and socioeconomic well being. The socioeconomic risk factors for brain health are identified using latent class models and machine learning. The project presents an unique blend of state-of-the art social science, psychology, and medical imaging. The results provide critical knowledge on social and biological risk factors for brain health, and neural determinants of sociability. The results allow designing new medical and social practices that promote mental health and healthy brain development through the lifespan.

2020

2024