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 Researchers collected income data over two decades for 3,287 adults,
starting in 1990 when they were 23 to 35 years old. They assessed
income volatility based on how much earnings rose or fell from one
year to the next, and also tallied how many times participants'
income dropped by at least 25%.
People who experienced greater income volatility and more pay cuts
had worse scores for processing speed and executive functioning in
cognitive tests in 2010. Brain scans that year also showed reduced
connective white matter and worse structural integrity for people
who experienced more income volatility and pay cuts.
"Overall, income volatility and unfavorable socioeconomic conditions
may increase exposure to several risk factors of poor brain health,"
said Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, a researcher at the Mailman School of
Public Health at Columbia University in New York City.
"Individuals who experience important income fluctuations may be
more at risk for cardiovascular risk factors, depression or
perceived stress, which are in turn associated with poor cognitive
health," Zeki Al Hazzouri said by email. "In addition, they may have
lower access to high-quality healthcare, which may result in worse
management of these risk factors, and potentiate their impact on
brain health."
Changes in cognitive test scores and brain scans didn't appear to
differ when researchers only looked at participants with the most
education.
Almost half of the participants, 1,780 people, didn't have any
income drops of 25% or more during the study period. People in this
group had average annual income of $39,681.
Another 1,108 people experienced one major income decline during the
study period, and this group had average annual income of $32,253.
And 399 individuals with average annual income of $33,326
experienced two or more substantial income reductions.
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Having multiple income drops appeared worse for brain health than
having a single large drop during the study period.
The study wasn't designed to prove whether earnings volatility
directly impacts brain health.
However, economic struggles have been associated with unhealthy
habits like smoking, drinking and inactivity that could in turn
contribute to worse brain health, poor cognitive function and
dementia, the study team writes in Neurology.
"It's well established that lower socioeconomic status is linked
with poorer health," said Dr. Joel Salinas, an associate professor
of neurology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston who wrote an editorial accompanying the study.
"Factors like income volatility are especially significant when a
recession looms," Salinas said by email. "Times of individual and
societal instability can have tremendous and enduring consequences -
far beyond the economic, extending into the long term potential for
entire communities to thrive."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/35pNssA and https://bit.ly/2IERiV4 Neurology,
online October 2, 2019.
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