Global urbanicity is associated with brain and behaviour in young people

Authors：Xu, Jiayuan; Liu, Xiaoxuan; Li, Qiaojun; Goldblatt, Ran; Qin, Wen; Liu, Feng; Chu, Congying; Luo, Qiang; Ing, Alex; Guo, Lining; Liu, Nana; Liu, Huaigui; Huang, Conghong; Cheng, Jingliang; Wang, Meiyun; Geng, Zuojun; Zhu, Wenzhen; Zhang, Bing; Liao, Weihua; Qiu, Shijun; Zhang, Hui; Xu, Xiaojun; Yu, Yongqiang; Gao, Bo; Han, Tong; Cui, Guangbin; Chen, Feng; Xian, Junfang; Li, Jiance; Zhang, Jing; Zuo, Xi-Nian; Wang, Dawei; Shen, Wen; Miao, Yanwei; Yuan, Fei; Lui, Su; Zhang, Xiaochu; Xu, Kai

Source：Nature Human Behaviour, 2022, 6(2): 279-+.

DOI：10.1038/s41562-021-01204-7

• NIGHTTIME LIGHT DATA
• PREFRONTAL CORTEX
• STRESS
• CONNECTIVITY
• INDEX
• URBANIZATION
• ENVIRONMENT
• COGNITION
• NETWORKS
• DYNAMICS

Urbanicity is a growing environmental challenge for mental health. Here, we investigate correlations of urbanicity with brain structure and function, neuropsychology and mental illness symptoms in young people from China and Europe (total n = 3,867). We developed a remote-sensing satellite measure (UrbanSat) to quantify population density at any point on Earth. UrbanSat estimates of urbanicity were correlated with brain volume, cortical surface area and brain network connectivity in the medial prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. UrbanSat was also associated with perspective-taking and depression symptoms, and this was mediated by neural variables. Urbanicity effects were greatest when urban exposure occurred in childhood for the cerebellum, and from childhood to adolescence for the prefrontal cortex. As UrbanSat can be generalized to different geographies, it may enable assessments of correlations of urbanicity with mental illness and resilience globally. @@@ Xu et al. show that satellite-measured urbanicity (living in a densely populated area) is correlated with brain volume, cortical surface area and brain network connectivity in a sample of 3,867 people from China and Europe.

• Institution
  复旦大学; 河北医科大学; 1; 山东大学; 中国科学院; 安徽医科大学; 郑州大学; 广州中医药大学; 四川大学; 中国人民解放军第四军医大学; 华中科技大学; 清华大学; 兰州大学; 浙江大学; 南京大学; 中国医科大学