Approved Research

Environmental exposure and lifestyle behaviors affect brain health

Lay summary

Cognitive health is associated with urban environment, but evidence on the effects of different urban environmental characteristics across different cities is limited. To address this gap, we aim to evaluate the effects of urban environment on cognitive health across cities in the UK, to identify how regional factors in dimensions of behavioral and environmental factors modify the effects, and to make this scientific evidence available for policy decision-making for active living and healthy aging.

Using UK Biobank, we will conduct a data-driven study to assess the association between cognitive health with urban environmental characteristics, and to estimate the health effects arising from alternative urban planning by comparing with cities. Multidisciplinary quantitative approaches including epidemiological, statistical, and spatial modelling are conducted to derive the urban environment variables including land use, amenities, and exposure to quantify related cognitive health impacts. The results will be estimated and compared within and between the cities, contributing to the planning of evidence-based urban policies, intervention of health behaviours, and cognitive health among densely populated regions in the UK.