ArticlePloS one2020
Association between exposure to air pollution and thalamus volume in adults: A cross-sectional study.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exposure to Air Pollution in Relation to Risk of Dementia and Related Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review of the Epidemiological Literature.Environmental health perspectives · 2021Pooled it
- Review
- A critical review of potential modifiers of air pollutant associations with dementia and related outcomes.Neurotoxicology · 2026Review
- Accelerated biological aging and brain structural alterations linking air pollution to dementia risk: a prospective cohort study.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2026Article
- The unique effects of chronic exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and indoor radon on subcortical brain morphology in youth.Neurotoxicology · 2026Article
- How does the macroenvironment influence brain and behaviour-a review of current status and future perspectives.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Review
- Association of Gaseous Ambient Air Pollution and Dementia-Related Neuroimaging Markers in the ARIC Cohort, Comparing Exposure Estimation Methods and Confounding by Study Site.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Article
- Aging Brain from a Lifespan Perspective.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2024Review
- How does the macroenvironment influence brain and behaviour - a review of current status and future perspectives.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Associations of Air Pollution on the Brain in Children: A Brain Imaging Study.Research report (Health Effects Institute) · 2022Article
- Air quality improvement and cognitive decline in community-dwelling older women in the United States: A longitudinal cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAir pollution has been associated with cognitive function and brain volume. While most previous research has examined the association between air pollution and brain volume in cortical structures or total brain volume, less research has investigated associations between exposure to air pollution and subcortical structures, including the thalamus. Further, the few available previous studies investigating associations between air pollution and thalamic volume have shown mixed results.
methodsIn this study, we evaluated the association between PM2.5, PM2.5-10, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxides and volume of the thalamus in adults using the UK Biobank resource, a large community-based sample, while adjusting for multiple covariates that could confound an association between air pollution and thalamic volume.
resultsIn adjusted models, the left but not right thalamus volume was significantly inversely associated with PM2.5-10, although there were no significant associations between PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxides with either left or right thalamic volumes. In addition, interactions between age and PM2.5-10 and PM10 were inversely associated with thalamic volume, such that thalamic volume in older people appeared more vulnerable to the adverse effects of PM2.5-10 and PM10, and interactions between educational attainment and PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxides and between self-rated health and PM2.5-10 were positively associated with thalamic volume, such that higher educational attainment and better self-rated health appeared protective against the adverse effects of air pollution on the thalamus.
conclusionThese findings suggest a possible association between thalamic volume and air pollution particularly in older people and in people with comparatively low educational attainment at levels of air pollution found in the United Kingdom.
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