Social exposome and brain health outcomes of dementia across Latin America
Joaquín Migeot, Stefanie Danielle Piña‐Escudero, Hernán Hernandez, Raúl González-Gómez, Agustina Legaz, Sol Fittipaldi, Elisa de Paula França Resende, Claudia Duran‐Aniotz, José Alberto Ávila‐Funes, María Isabel Behrens, Martín A. Bruno, Juan F. Cardona, Nilton Custodio, Adolfo M. García, Maria Eugenia Godoy, Kun Hu, Serggio Lanata, Brian Lawlor, Francisco Lopera, Marcelo Adrián Maito, Diana Matallana, Bruce Miller, J. Jaime Miranda, Maira Okada de Oliveira, Pablo Reyes, Hernando Santamaría‐García, Andrea Slachevsky, Ana Luisa Sosa, Leonel Tadao Takada, Jacqueline M. Torres, Sven Vanneste, Victor Valcour, Olivia Wen, Jennifer S. Yokoyama, Katherine L. Possin, Agustín Ibáñez
Abstract
A multidimensional social exposome (MSE)-the combined lifespan measures of education, food insecurity, financial status, access to healthcare, childhood experiences, and more-may shape dementia risk and brain health over the lifespan, particularly in underserved regions like Latin America. However, the MSE effects on brain health and dementia are unknown. We evaluated 2211 individuals (controls, Alzheimer's disease, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration) from a non-representative sample across six Latin American countries. Adverse exposomes associate with poorer cognition in healthy aging. In dementia, more complex exposomes correlate with lower cognitive and functional performance, higher neuropsychiatric symptoms, and brain structural and connectivity alterations in frontal-temporal-limbic and cerebellar regions. Food insecurity, financial resources, subjective socioeconomic status, and access to healthcare emerge as critical predictors. Cumulative exposome measures surpass isolated factors in predicting clinical-cognitive profiles. Multiple sensitivity analyses confirm our results. Findings highlight the need for personalized approaches integrating MSE across the lifespan, emphasizing prevention and interventions targeting social disparities.