宏观经济收入不平等、大脑结构和功能、以及心理健康
宏观经济收入不平等、大脑结构和功能、以及心理健康
Macroeconomic Income Inequality, Brain Structure and Function, and Mental Health
——《自然/心理健康》第3卷第11期，2025年11月——
【摘要】收入不平等是社会结构性特征之一，其特征是资源分配不均，它与青少年时期（神经发育的关键时期）的不良心理健康结果相关。虽然以往的研究探讨了个体层面的社会经济因素对大脑结构和功能的影响，但将结构性不平等与心理健康差异联系起来的神经生物学机制仍知之甚少。本研究利用青少年大脑认知发展研究的数据，调查了美国17个州8000多名9-10岁儿童的大脑结构和功能连接性与各州收入不平等（以基尼系数衡量）之间的关联。我们分析了全脑皮质厚度和表面积、体积以及特定区域的厚度和表面积指标，以及12个脑网络内部和网络间的功能连接性，并控制了若干个体层面和州层面的混杂因素（例如收入、教育程度、州监禁率和医疗补助计划扩展情况）。我们进行了中介分析，以检验脑部指标是否将收入不平等与6个月和18个月随访时的心理健康结果联系起来。结果显示，较高的收入不平等与广泛脑区皮质厚度和表面积的减少以及多个脑网络间功能连接的改变相关。较低的皮质体积和表面积，以及默认模式网络和背侧注意网络之间的连接性，在较高的结构性收入不平等与更严重的心理健康问题之间起中介作用。我们的研究结果表明，收入不平等是影响神经发育和心理健康的一个独特的社会层面决定因素，且独立于个人社会经济地位。因此，需要制定旨在减少不平等和加强社会凝聚力的政策，以减轻其对神经生物学和心理健康的影响。
[Abstract] Income inequality, a structural property of societies characterized by the unequal distribution of resources, is associated with adverse mental health outcomes during adolescence, which is a sensitive period of neurodevelopment. While previous research has explored the impact of individual-level socioeconomic factors on brain structure and function, the neurobiological mechanisms linking structural inequality to mental health disparities remain poorly understood. Here, using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, we investigated the associations between state-level income inequality, indexed by the Gini coefficient, and brain structure and functional connectivity in over 8,000 children aged 9–10 years (from 17 states in the USA). We analyzed whole-brain cortical thickness and surface area, and volume and region-specific measures of thickness and surface area, as well as functional connectivity within and between 12 brain networks, controlling for several individual-level and state-level confounders (for example, income, educational attainment, state-level incarceration rate and Medicaid expansion status). Mediation analyses were conducted to test whether brain metrics linked income inequality to mental health outcomes at 6-month and 18-month follow-ups. Higher income inequality was associated with reduced cortical thickness and surface area across widespread brain regions, as well as altered functional connectivity between multiple brain networks. Lower cortical volume and surface area, as well as connectivity between the default mode and dorsal attention networks, mediated the association between higher structural income inequality and greater mental health problems. Our findings reveal income inequality as a unique societal-level determinant of neurodevelopment and mental health, independent of individual socioeconomic status. Policies aimed at reducing inequality and strengthening social cohesion to mitigate its neurobiological and mental health impacts are needed.
论文原文：Divyangana Rakesh, Dimitris I. Tsomokos, Teresa Vargas, Kate E. Pickett & Vikram Patel (2025). Macroeconomic income inequality, brain structure and function, and mental health. Nature / Mental Health, Volume 3, Issue 11, Pages 1318–1330, November 2025.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00508-1
（需要英文原文的朋友，请联系微信：millerdeng95或iacmsp）
