Patterns of brain-wide associations reflect socioeconomics

2026/06/11 by Scott Marek, Meghan Rose Donohue, Nicole R. Karcher +33 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Affect (linguistics) #Association (psychology) #Brain Structure and Function #Brain function #Cognition #Exposome #Functional Brain Connectivity Studies #Generalizability theory #Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging #Mental Health Research Topics #Psychopathology #Socioeconomic status

paper · open access · doi:10.1126/science.aee6213

published in Science 392(6803), eaee6213 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

openalex created_date 2025/12/13 · openalex publication_date 2026/06/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Previous brain-wide association studies (BWAS) cross-sectionally linked a specific behavioral trait, most commonly IQ or psychopathology, to variation in brain function or structure. Here, we expanded the focus of BWAS from effect sizes to interpretability and generalizability by mapping 649 variables to brain function and structure. We compared the resultant BWAS maps to other types of brain data to annotate the BWAS patterns. Socioeconomic status (SES) - not IQ or psychopathology - showed the strongest associations with both resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and cortical thickness in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. A principal exposome brain pattern, anchored to sensory and motor cortex, captured 34% of the variance across all BWAS maps. This exposome pattern was strongly correlated with the SES and IQ BWAS maps and non-BWAS maps of sleep (EEG), norepinephrine (PET), and stimulants (drug trial), but not cognitive activation maps (task fMRI). Adjusting for SES, reduced brain-IQ associations by 40%. Brain with IQ associations did not generalize, as they could no longer be detected in subsamples drawn from only higher SES backgrounds, while brain with SES associations remained strong in higher-IQ-only subsamples. These findings reveal SES as the principal axis of population-level brain variation, possibly stemming from the sleep deprivation and heightened stress associated with lower SES, since socioeconomics can only indirectly affect the brain.

Citations

• Longer scans boost prediction and cut costs in brain-wide association studies
• Comparison of Sociodemographic and Health-Related Characteristics of UK Biobank Participants With Those of the General Population
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Discussions

• The evidence is clear: socioeconomic conditions play an *enormous* role in brain development Amazing work by @smarek0502.bsky.social &co doi.org/10.1126/science.aee6213 +perspective by @lucindasisk. [bsky, 29 points, 0 comments]

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