Living in socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods is linked to poorer midlife cognition and higher dementia risk, driven in part by brain small vessel disease and poorer management of sleep, obesity, and blood pressure.

Cognition is particularly affected by housing quality, environmental conditions, and crime levels, impacting information processing speed, spatial awareness, and attention.

Surprisingly, deprived areas show lower alcohol consumption compared with less disadvantaged areas, even though alcohol is a known dementia risk factor.

While the findings come from UK and Ireland, researchers call for more work to determine applicability across cultures, noting mixed evidence in some Asian contexts.

Policy implications point to area-tailored interventions and engagement of local and national policymakers to reduce environmental barriers to healthy living.

Funding and support came from Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Wellcome Trust, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, with the study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia and linked to the PREVENT-Dementia dataset.

Senior author notes that reducing dementia risk requires addressing social determinants and engaging policymakers to support healthier environments, not just changing individual behavior.

Dementia risk appears shaped by environmental and social determinants, calling for policy actions to tackle structural barriers such as access to affordable healthy food, safe spaces for activity, crime reduction, and accessible healthcare.

Co-authors emphasize coordinated efforts from local and national policymakers and targeted neighbourhood-specific interventions to reduce health inequalities.

In a study of 585 healthy adults aged 40–59 in the UK and Ireland, neighbourhood deprivation was linked to brain small vessel damage and poorer cognitive performance, assessed via MRI and cognitive tests.

Lead author Dr. Audrey Low argues that midlife brain health is influenced by living conditions, which affect the ability to maintain healthy sleep, exercise, blood pressure, and weight management.

Proposed public health strategy includes tailoring efforts by area: higher-income areas might focus on reducing alcohol use, while lower-income areas should emphasize promoting healthy lifestyles and improving access to affordable healthcare and healthy foods, along with crime reduction and safe spaces for activity.