Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status
Successful aging depends upon several internal and external factors that influence the overall aging process. Objective and subjective socioeconomic status emerge as potential psychosocial factors in the ethiopathophysiology of aging-related disorders. Presumably, low socioeconomic status can act as...
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/9/635 |
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| author | Carolina Villada Mauricio González-López Herlinda Aguilar-Zavala Thalía Fernández |
| author_facet | Carolina Villada Mauricio González-López Herlinda Aguilar-Zavala Thalía Fernández |
| author_sort | Carolina Villada |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Successful aging depends upon several internal and external factors that influence the overall aging process. Objective and subjective socioeconomic status emerge as potential psychosocial factors in the ethiopathophysiology of aging-related disorders. Presumably, low socioeconomic status can act as a psychosocial stressor that can affect humans’ physiology via psychoneuroendocrine mechanisms, that may, in turn, affect the brain physiology. In resting-state electroencephalography (EEG), excess theta and delta activity has been related to cognitive decline and dementia. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of objective and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) on cognition and brain electrical activity through EEG measures. The present research constitutes a cross-sectional study with thirty healthy older adults (61–82 years old) separated into two clusters: high socioeconomic (HS) and low socioeconomic (LS) status; they were evaluated and compared in cognitive terms using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV). An EEG at rest was recorded to measure brain activity and, as an indicator of long-term stress exposure, hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) were measured. Our results show that lower SES is related to a worse performance in working memory tasks (<i>p</i> = 0.009), higher delta (<i>p</i> = 0.002) and theta power (<i>p</i> = 0.039), and lower alpha activity (<i>p</i> = 0.028). However, it seems that SES does not significantly affect HCC in this population of healthy older adults. The effects of SES on long-term cortisol exposure, brain electrical activity, and cognitive functions in healthy older people emphasize the role of psychosocial factors in aging from an integrative perspective that will allow us to implement better prevention programs to target cognitive decline in adults. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:19:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-93d03b99d9fc4159bfeb6e9e44867af5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:19:43Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-93d03b99d9fc4159bfeb6e9e44867af52023-11-20T13:44:42ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252020-09-0110963510.3390/brainsci10090635Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic StatusCarolina Villada0Mauricio González-López1Herlinda Aguilar-Zavala2Thalía Fernández3Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 076230 Queretaro, MexicoDepartamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 076230 Queretaro, MexicoDivisión de Ciencias de la Salud e Ingenierías, Campus Celaya-Salvatierra, Universidad de Guanajuato, 38110 Celaya, MexicoDepartamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 076230 Queretaro, MexicoSuccessful aging depends upon several internal and external factors that influence the overall aging process. Objective and subjective socioeconomic status emerge as potential psychosocial factors in the ethiopathophysiology of aging-related disorders. Presumably, low socioeconomic status can act as a psychosocial stressor that can affect humans’ physiology via psychoneuroendocrine mechanisms, that may, in turn, affect the brain physiology. In resting-state electroencephalography (EEG), excess theta and delta activity has been related to cognitive decline and dementia. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of objective and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) on cognition and brain electrical activity through EEG measures. The present research constitutes a cross-sectional study with thirty healthy older adults (61–82 years old) separated into two clusters: high socioeconomic (HS) and low socioeconomic (LS) status; they were evaluated and compared in cognitive terms using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV). An EEG at rest was recorded to measure brain activity and, as an indicator of long-term stress exposure, hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) were measured. Our results show that lower SES is related to a worse performance in working memory tasks (<i>p</i> = 0.009), higher delta (<i>p</i> = 0.002) and theta power (<i>p</i> = 0.039), and lower alpha activity (<i>p</i> = 0.028). However, it seems that SES does not significantly affect HCC in this population of healthy older adults. The effects of SES on long-term cortisol exposure, brain electrical activity, and cognitive functions in healthy older people emphasize the role of psychosocial factors in aging from an integrative perspective that will allow us to implement better prevention programs to target cognitive decline in adults.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/9/635resting EEGhair cortisol concentrationcognitive performancehealthy older peoplesocioeconomic status |
| spellingShingle | Carolina Villada Mauricio González-López Herlinda Aguilar-Zavala Thalía Fernández Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status Brain Sciences resting EEG hair cortisol concentration cognitive performance healthy older people socioeconomic status |
| title | Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status |
| title_full | Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status |
| title_fullStr | Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status |
| title_short | Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status |
| title_sort | resting eeg hair cortisol and cognitive performance in healthy older people with different perceived socioeconomic status |
| topic | resting EEG hair cortisol concentration cognitive performance healthy older people socioeconomic status |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/9/635 |
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