SCYNAPSIS
#epidemiology
#epidemiology
#epidemiology
Image credit by James Burns
Image credit by James Burns
Image credit by James Burns
Pablo Avalos Prado
Pablo Avalos Prado
Pablo Avalos Prado
Neuroscientist & Medical Writer
Neuroscientist & Medical Writer
Neuroscientist & Medical Writer
June 17, 2023
June 17, 2023
June 17, 2023
Mental health is conditioned by urban environment
Mental health is conditioned by urban environment
Mental health is conditioned by urban environment
Urban living has a great impact on mental and brain health, claims a new study in Nature Medicine that links different urban environment areas with symptoms related to anxiety, emotional instability and affective disorder.
More than 50% of the world population lives currently in urban areas, where people benefit from better infrastructure and more work opportunities than residents residing in rural areas. Nevertheless, some studies have already suggested that living in big cities can increase the risk of developing mental disorders like anxiety and schizophrenia.
A new study carried out by researchers at Tianjin Medical University and Charité Hospital in Germany analyzed the data of more than 150.000 participants living in urban areas from the UK Biobank and used them to correlate different urban environments and psychiatric symptoms, and also to identify specific genes and brain regions mediating these interactions.
Affective, anxiety and emotional instability symptoms are linked to different urban environments
The authors identified 128 urban living variables that could have an impact on mental health such as traffic, air pollution, green space proximity and building class. These variables were correlated with different symptoms falling into 3 different categories of psychiatric disorders.
The first category, related to affective symptoms, involved prolonged or frequent unenthusiasm, tiredness, loneliness and depressed and annoyed mood. This group was linked to a poor and dense inner-city neighborhood with high degrees of deprivation and air pollution and lack of green spaces.
The second group was characterized by anxiety symptoms like nervous, tense and worrying feelings. The anxiety symptoms were associated with a type of city with many streets and mixed areas of residential, commercial and industrial use, where green spaces and proximity to lakes or to the sea play a protective role for anxiety.
Finally, the work identified a third group of emotional instability symptoms (mood swings, stress, irritability, and risk-taking) that was found to be related with an urban living environment with high density of hotels, hospitals, schools and mixed types of buildings.
The genetics behind urban environment impact on mental health
The authors also performed genome-wide associated study analysis on 76.508 participants to establish a connection between the three mental symptom groups and specific genes, to address a genetic explanation for neurological disorders.
For the affective symptoms, they found a strong association with variants of the genes MAPT and CRHR1, which are involved in neurodegeneration and behavioral stress responses, respectively. The analysis also revealed a strong association with the gene EXD3 - which is linked to suicidal thoughts - and other genes involved in serotonin metabolism. Finally, among the genes related with emotional instability IFT74, which has some variants associated with paranoid schizophrenia, showed high levels of association, as well as other other genes involved in cerebellar development.
The authors also found that most of these genetic variants were strongly associated with the types of urban profile underlying the different mental disorders. For instance, people with lower CRHR1 gene scores showed a weaker connection between the urban living environment and affective symptoms, while those with higher CRHR1 gene scores had a stronger connection. This suggests that the genetic makeup of individuals can play a role in how the urban environment affects their emotional well-being.
The neurobiology behind urban environment impact on mental health
Finally, the study suggests that differences of volume in some brain areas could explain the association between psychiatric symptoms and different urban living environments.
For instance, the magnetic resonance images of patients showing affective symptoms revealed a reduction in brain areas involved in reward processing like the ventral striatum, which controls reward and drug reinforcement. In the same way, the amygdala, which has a key role in fear and anxiety responses, was also different in patients with anxiety symptoms.
Although this work strengthens the association between urbanicity and mental health, the authors admit that the causative mechanisms remain elusive. Indeed, this study shows strong associations between different city profiles, psychiatric symptoms, genetic variations and neuroanatomy, but the linear mediation models used are not enough to give a causative explanation. Moreover, the model did not take into account other parameters like migration or family and social background.
The quantification of the contribution of each environmental factor to brain and psychiatric symptoms and their interplay in an urban-living environment could potentially aid in targeting and prioritizing future public health interventions in the future. After all, by 2050, two-thirds will live in cities, making this kind of study particularly useful.
Original article
Urban living has a great impact on mental and brain health, claims a new study in Nature Medicine that links different urban environment areas with symptoms related to anxiety, emotional instability and affective disorder.
More than 50% of the world population lives currently in urban areas, where people benefit from better infrastructure and more work opportunities than residents residing in rural areas. Nevertheless, some studies have already suggested that living in big cities can increase the risk of developing mental disorders like anxiety and schizophrenia.
A new study carried out by researchers at Tianjin Medical University and Charité Hospital in Germany analyzed the data of more than 150.000 participants living in urban areas from the UK Biobank and used them to correlate different urban environments and psychiatric symptoms, and also to identify specific genes and brain regions mediating these interactions.
Affective, anxiety and emotional instability symptoms are linked to different urban environments
The authors identified 128 urban living variables that could have an impact on mental health such as traffic, air pollution, green space proximity and building class. These variables were correlated with different symptoms falling into 3 different categories of psychiatric disorders.
The first category, related to affective symptoms, involved prolonged or frequent unenthusiasm, tiredness, loneliness and depressed and annoyed mood. This group was linked to a poor and dense inner-city neighborhood with high degrees of deprivation and air pollution and lack of green spaces.
The second group was characterized by anxiety symptoms like nervous, tense and worrying feelings. The anxiety symptoms were associated with a type of city with many streets and mixed areas of residential, commercial and industrial use, where green spaces and proximity to lakes or to the sea play a protective role for anxiety.
Finally, the work identified a third group of emotional instability symptoms (mood swings, stress, irritability, and risk-taking) that was found to be related with an urban living environment with high density of hotels, hospitals, schools and mixed types of buildings.
The genetics behind urban environment impact on mental health
The authors also performed genome-wide associated study analysis on 76.508 participants to establish a connection between the three mental symptom groups and specific genes, to address a genetic explanation for neurological disorders.
For the affective symptoms, they found a strong association with variants of the genes MAPT and CRHR1, which are involved in neurodegeneration and behavioral stress responses, respectively. The analysis also revealed a strong association with the gene EXD3 - which is linked to suicidal thoughts - and other genes involved in serotonin metabolism. Finally, among the genes related with emotional instability IFT74, which has some variants associated with paranoid schizophrenia, showed high levels of association, as well as other other genes involved in cerebellar development.
The authors also found that most of these genetic variants were strongly associated with the types of urban profile underlying the different mental disorders. For instance, people with lower CRHR1 gene scores showed a weaker connection between the urban living environment and affective symptoms, while those with higher CRHR1 gene scores had a stronger connection. This suggests that the genetic makeup of individuals can play a role in how the urban environment affects their emotional well-being.
The neurobiology behind urban environment impact on mental health
Finally, the study suggests that differences of volume in some brain areas could explain the association between psychiatric symptoms and different urban living environments.
For instance, the magnetic resonance images of patients showing affective symptoms revealed a reduction in brain areas involved in reward processing like the ventral striatum, which controls reward and drug reinforcement. In the same way, the amygdala, which has a key role in fear and anxiety responses, was also different in patients with anxiety symptoms.
Although this work strengthens the association between urbanicity and mental health, the authors admit that the causative mechanisms remain elusive. Indeed, this study shows strong associations between different city profiles, psychiatric symptoms, genetic variations and neuroanatomy, but the linear mediation models used are not enough to give a causative explanation. Moreover, the model did not take into account other parameters like migration or family and social background.
The quantification of the contribution of each environmental factor to brain and psychiatric symptoms and their interplay in an urban-living environment could potentially aid in targeting and prioritizing future public health interventions in the future. After all, by 2050, two-thirds will live in cities, making this kind of study particularly useful.
Original article
Urban living has a great impact on mental and brain health, claims a new study in Nature Medicine that links different urban environment areas with symptoms related to anxiety, emotional instability and affective disorder.
More than 50% of the world population lives currently in urban areas, where people benefit from better infrastructure and more work opportunities than residents residing in rural areas. Nevertheless, some studies have already suggested that living in big cities can increase the risk of developing mental disorders like anxiety and schizophrenia.
A new study carried out by researchers at Tianjin Medical University and Charité Hospital in Germany analyzed the data of more than 150.000 participants living in urban areas from the UK Biobank and used them to correlate different urban environments and psychiatric symptoms, and also to identify specific genes and brain regions mediating these interactions.
Affective, anxiety and emotional instability symptoms are linked to different urban environments
The authors identified 128 urban living variables that could have an impact on mental health such as traffic, air pollution, green space proximity and building class. These variables were correlated with different symptoms falling into 3 different categories of psychiatric disorders.
The first category, related to affective symptoms, involved prolonged or frequent unenthusiasm, tiredness, loneliness and depressed and annoyed mood. This group was linked to a poor and dense inner-city neighborhood with high degrees of deprivation and air pollution and lack of green spaces.
The second group was characterized by anxiety symptoms like nervous, tense and worrying feelings. The anxiety symptoms were associated with a type of city with many streets and mixed areas of residential, commercial and industrial use, where green spaces and proximity to lakes or to the sea play a protective role for anxiety.
Finally, the work identified a third group of emotional instability symptoms (mood swings, stress, irritability, and risk-taking) that was found to be related with an urban living environment with high density of hotels, hospitals, schools and mixed types of buildings.
The genetics behind urban environment impact on mental health
The authors also performed genome-wide associated study analysis on 76.508 participants to establish a connection between the three mental symptom groups and specific genes, to address a genetic explanation for neurological disorders.
For the affective symptoms, they found a strong association with variants of the genes MAPT and CRHR1, which are involved in neurodegeneration and behavioral stress responses, respectively. The analysis also revealed a strong association with the gene EXD3 - which is linked to suicidal thoughts - and other genes involved in serotonin metabolism. Finally, among the genes related with emotional instability IFT74, which has some variants associated with paranoid schizophrenia, showed high levels of association, as well as other other genes involved in cerebellar development.
The authors also found that most of these genetic variants were strongly associated with the types of urban profile underlying the different mental disorders. For instance, people with lower CRHR1 gene scores showed a weaker connection between the urban living environment and affective symptoms, while those with higher CRHR1 gene scores had a stronger connection. This suggests that the genetic makeup of individuals can play a role in how the urban environment affects their emotional well-being.
The neurobiology behind urban environment impact on mental health
Finally, the study suggests that differences of volume in some brain areas could explain the association between psychiatric symptoms and different urban living environments.
For instance, the magnetic resonance images of patients showing affective symptoms revealed a reduction in brain areas involved in reward processing like the ventral striatum, which controls reward and drug reinforcement. In the same way, the amygdala, which has a key role in fear and anxiety responses, was also different in patients with anxiety symptoms.
Although this work strengthens the association between urbanicity and mental health, the authors admit that the causative mechanisms remain elusive. Indeed, this study shows strong associations between different city profiles, psychiatric symptoms, genetic variations and neuroanatomy, but the linear mediation models used are not enough to give a causative explanation. Moreover, the model did not take into account other parameters like migration or family and social background.
The quantification of the contribution of each environmental factor to brain and psychiatric symptoms and their interplay in an urban-living environment could potentially aid in targeting and prioritizing future public health interventions in the future. After all, by 2050, two-thirds will live in cities, making this kind of study particularly useful.
Original article