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ABSTRACT ObjectiveNeighborhood perceptions are associated with physical and mental health outcomes; however, the biological associates of this relationship remain to be fully understood. Here, we evaluate the relationship between neighborhood perceptions and amygdala activity and connectivity with salience network (i.e., insula, anterior cingulate, thalamus) nodes. MethodsForty-eight older adults (mean age = 68 [7] years, 52% female, 47% non-Hispanic Black, 2% Hispanic) without dementia or depression completed the Perceptions of Neighborhood Environment Scale. Lower scores indicated less favorable perceptions of aesthetic quality, walking environment, availability of healthy food, safety, violence (i.e., more perceived violence), social cohesion, and participation in activities with neighbors. Participants separately underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. ResultsLess favorable perceived safety (β= −0.33,pFDR= .04) and participation in activities with neighbors (β= −0.35,pFDR= .02) were associated with higher left amygdala activity, independent of covariates including psychosocial factors. Less favorable safety perceptions were also associated with enhanced left amygdala functional connectivity with the bilateral insular cortices and the left anterior insula (β= −0.34,pFDR= .04). Less favorable perceived social cohesion was associated with enhanced left amygdala functional connectivity with the right thalamus (β =−0.42,pFDR= .04), and less favorable perceptions about healthy food availability were associated with enhanced left amygdala functional connectivity with the bilateral anterior insula (right:β= −0.39,pFDR= .04; left:β= −0.42,pFDR= .02) and anterior cingulate gyrus (β= −0.37,pFDR= .04). ConclusionsTaken together, our findings document relationships between select neighborhood perceptions and amygdala activity as well as connectivity with salience network nodes; if confirmed, targeted community-level interventions and existing community strengths may promote brain-behavior relationships.
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This content will become publicly available on May 2, 2026
Punctuated and Prolonged: A Workers' Inquiry into Infrastructural Failures in Bus Transit
In North America, bus operators are essential but undervalued public servants — the ''human infrastructure'' of public transit. Transit workers face a range of largely invisible health and safety issues that have worsened in recent years. As more attention is directed toward new technologies being commercialized in the sector these operational challenges remain largely unaddressed. Our paper contributes to a turn ''back to labor'' and describes issues bus operators face on the job. Through a diary study of bus operators' working conditions we detail howpunctuatedmoments of workplace violence, inhumane scheduling, and unsafe operational conditions becomeprolonged infrastructural failure.We outline how CSCW researchers and practitioners can contribute to the design of transit systems that enhance worker dignity and contribute to ongoing efforts to address urgent health and safety concerns.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2427699
- PAR ID:
- 10637577
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
- Volume:
- 9
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2573-0142
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 25
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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