| Title: | Urban ecological environment quality and brain aging: epidemiological evidence from a middle-aged and elderly population-based cohort |
| Journal: | Sustainable Cities and Society |
| Published: | 1 Sep 2026 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2026.107588 |
Publication 20861
WARNING: the interactive features of this website use CSS3, which your browser does not support. To use the full features of this website, please update your browser.
Abstract
Urban sustainability is closely linked to the health of aging populations. While urban ecosystems provide health-relevant services, the population-level impact of their overall quality, a modifiable factor influencing brain aging, remains under-quantified. This study utilized data from 74,570 UK participants and investigated associations of ecological quality, measured by the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI), which integrates greenness, humidity, heat, and dryness, with MRI-derived brain aging and brain regional volumes using multivariable linear regression. Stratified analyses and restricted cubic spline models were further applied for effect modification and exposure-response exploration. We found that lower RSEI was significantly associated with accelerated brain aging (β = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.06-0.15), with evidence of nonlinear threshold effects. This effect was more pronounced in middle-aged adults (< 60 years: β = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.11-0.22; ≥ 60 years: β = -0.05, 95% CI: -0.13-0.03), highlighting a critical window for intervention across the lifespan. Considering the strong association of APOE genotype with brain aging (APOE ε4 homozygote vs. heterozygote, β = 0.20), we further tested whether APOE modified the association between RSEI and brain aging, but the interaction was not significant. Neuroimaging analysis indicated that lower RSEI was linked to smaller gray matter volume, including caudate nucleus (βLow = -13.04) and thalamus (βLow = -23.46). Our findings quantify the population brain health effects of urban ecology, advocating strategic investments in composite ecological infrastructures as a fundamental preventive strategy for promoting brain-healthy and sustainable cities, thereby supporting the implementation of Health in All Policies.</p>
12 Authors
- Zihuan Shao
- Shenghao Yuan
- Jiawei Gu
- Yujia Bao
- Jingyun Feng
- Hongxuan Wu
- Wenqi Qian
- Dayi Lai
- Tianlang Tong
- Chen Shen
- Xiaobei Deng
- Jinjun Ran
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 99001 | Gene-environment interaction analysis on age-related diseases |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health