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. 2023 Sep;33(9):1067-1072.
doi: 10.1002/hipo.23542. Epub 2023 May 3.

Household socioeconomic status relates to specific hippocampal subfield volumes across development

Kelsey L Canada  1 , Roya Homayouni  1   2 , Qijing Yu  1 , Da' Jonae Foster  1   2 , Sruthi Ramesh  1 , Sarah Raz  2   3 , Ana M Daugherty  1   2 , Noa Ofen  1   2   3
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Household socioeconomic status relates to specific hippocampal subfield volumes across development

Kelsey L Canada et al. Hippocampus. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

The hippocampus is composed of cytoarchitecturally distinct subfields that support specific memory functions. Variations in total hippocampal volume across development have been linked to socioeconomic status (SES), a proxy for access to material resources, medical care, and quality education. High childhood household SES is associated with greater cognitive abilities in adulthood. Currently, it is not known whether household SES differentially impacts specific hippocampal subfield volumes. We assessed susceptibility of subfields to variations in household SES across development in a sample of 167 typically developing 5- to 25-year-old. Bilateral cornu ammonis (CA) 1-2, combined CA3-dentate gyrus (DG), and subiculum (Sub) volumes were measured by highly reliable manual segmentation of high-resolution T2-weighted images and adjusted for intracranial volume. A summary component score of SES measures (paternal education, maternal education, and income-to-needs ratio) was used to examine variability in volumes across ages. We did not identify age-related differences in any of the regional volumes, nor did age modify SES-related effects. Controlling for age, larger volumes of CA3-DG and CA1-2 were associated with lower SES, while Sub volume was not. Overall, these findings support the specific impact of SES on CA3-DG and CA1-2 and highlight the importance of considering environmental influences on hippocampal subfield development.

Keywords: development; hippocampal subfields; socioeconomic status; structural MRI.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Example of manual demarcation of hippocampal subfields from high-resolution (0.4 × 0.4 × 2 mm3) PD-TSE-T2-weighted image in the coronal plane. CA3-DG is shown in blue, CA1–2 in red, and Sub in green.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Associations between chronological age in years and A) CA3-DG (blue), B): CA1–2 (red), and C) Sub (green) ICV-adjusted volumes, controlling for sex and SES. Adjusted correlations were not statistically significant.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Relations between household SES and A) CA3-DG (blue), B): CA1–2 (red), and C) Sub (green) ICV-adjusted volumes controlling for sex and age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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