Urban environment in early-life and brain morphology in preadolescents
Binter, Anne-Claire López-Vicente, Mónica Petricola, Sami Hessel, Ellen Bannier, Elise Cirach, Marta Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark Chevrier, Cécile van den Heuvel, Martijn Vrijheid, Martine
Binter, Anne-Claire
López-Vicente, Mónica
Petricola, Sami
Hessel, Ellen
Bannier, Elise
Cirach, Marta
Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark
Chevrier, Cécile
van den Heuvel, Martijn
Vrijheid, Martine
Series / Report no.
Open Access
Type
Journal Article
Article
Article
Language
en
Date of publication
2025-11-01
Year of publication
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Title
Urban environment in early-life and brain morphology in preadolescents
Translated Title
Published in
Environ Pollut 2026; 388:127333
Abstract
Rapid urbanization leads to increased exposure to air pollution, limited greenness, and denser built environments. However, evidence on how these urban factors influence brain development remains limited. We investigated associations between urban characteristics during pregnancy and childhood and brain morphology in preadolescence. The study included 2895 children from the Dutch Generation R Study, with replication in 92 children from the French PELAGIE cohort. Twelve built environment and four urban natural space indicators were estimated at residential addresses during pregnancy and childhood. Brain outcomes included cortical gray matter, cerebral white matter, cerebellum, corpus callosum, subcortical structures volumes, cortical thickness, and surface area assessed at 9-12 years. We applied multi-exposure regression models with data-driven variable selection and assessed mediation by air pollution and road-traffic noise, adjusting for confounders. In Generation R, higher NDVI during pregnancy was associated with smaller cortical gray matter volume (-5132 mm; 95 % CI: -8611, -1652), and higher facility richness with larger nucleus accumbens volume. During childhood, higher distance to blue space was associated with larger cortical gray matter volume, and higher transport land use with smaller hippocampus. No mediation by air pollution or road-traffic noise was observed. In PELAGIE, associations were consistent but not statistically significant. Cortical thickness was associated with several built environment indicators during childhood, and surrounding greenness was linked to smaller surface area in specific cortical regions. Our findings suggest that early-life exposure to urban environments may influence brain morphology, with distinct contributions from green space, blue space, and built environment factors.