The Population Neuroscience-Dementia Syndemics Framework to better understand global sex and gender-based risk in low- and middle-income countries
Document Type
Artefact
Department
Brain and Mind Institute
Abstract
Globally, the burden of dementia profoundly affects low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with a greater burden and risk for late-life women than men. Structural and social determinants of health, crucial constructs conferring risk and protection from later-life dementia, are relatively understudied, yet essential in LMICs. Typical neuroscience studies have historically been small, with highly selected samples that do not generalize well to target populations in LMICs. To better understand gender and sex differences in dementia risk in LMICs, this Perspective lays out a guiding framework for a global dementia research plan—the Population Neuroscience-Dementia Syndemics Framework. Population neuroscience considers the brain in a multilevel context, from a lifecourse perspective, using tools to enhance internal and external validity, while syndemics suggest that diseases and social conditions may cluster and interact in populations with syndemic risk factors—sociocultural, political, economic, and environmental factors that promote stress pathways and disease.
AKU Student
no
Publication (Name of Journal)
Nature Aging
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-01035-5
Recommended Citation
Shaaban, E. C.,
Suryadevara, V.,
Hill, A. V.,
Milani, S. A.,
Agarwal, P.,
Aggarwal, N. T.,
Caramelli, P.,
DuBose, L.,
Ellajosyula, R.,
Karanja, W.
(2026). The Population Neuroscience-Dementia Syndemics Framework to better understand global sex and gender-based risk in low- and middle-income countries. Nature Aging, 6, 38-55.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/bmi/501