The effects of exposure to road traffic noise at school on central auditory pathway functional connectivity

Mostra el registre complet Registre parcial de l'ítem

  • dc.contributor.author Martínez-Vilavella, Gerard
  • dc.contributor.author Pujol, Jesús
  • dc.contributor.author Blanco Hinojo, Laura, 1981-
  • dc.contributor.author Deus, Joan
  • dc.contributor.author Rivas, Ioar
  • dc.contributor.author Persavento, Cecilia
  • dc.contributor.author Sunyer Deu, Jordi
  • dc.contributor.author Foraster Pulido, Maria, 1984-
  • dc.date.accessioned 2023-06-27T07:00:07Z
  • dc.date.available 2023-06-27T07:00:07Z
  • dc.date.issued 2023
  • dc.description.abstract As the world becomes more urbanized, more people become exposed to traffic and the risks associated with a higher exposure to road traffic noise increase. Excessive exposure to environmental noise could potentially interfere with functional maturation of the auditory brain in developing individuals. The aim of the present study was to assess the association between exposure to annual average road traffic noise (LAeq) in schools and functional connectivity of key elements of the central auditory pathway in schoolchildren. A total of 229 children from 34 representative schools in the city of Barcelona with ages between 8 and 12 years (49.2% girls) were evaluated. LAeq was obtained as the mean of 2-consecutive day measurements inside classrooms before lessons started following standard procedures to obtain an indicator of long-term road traffic noise levels. A region-of-interest functional connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) approach was adopted. Functional connectivity maps were generated for the inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body of the thalamus and primary auditory cortex as key levels of the central auditory pathway. Road traffic noise in schools was significantly associated with stronger connectivity between the inferior colliculus and a bilateral thalamic region adjacent to the medial geniculate body, and with stronger connectivity between the medial geniculate body and a bilateral brainstem region adjacent to the inferior colliculus. Such a functional connectivity strengthening effect did not extend to the cerebral cortex. The anatomy of the association implicating subcortical relays suggests that prolonged road traffic noise exposure in developing individuals may accelerate maturation in the basic elements of the auditory pathway. Future research is warranted to establish whether such a faster maturation in early pathway levels may ultimately reduce the developing potential in the whole auditory system.
  • dc.description.sponsorship This research received funding from the following sources: European Research Council (ERC) Grant Agreement No 268479 - BREATHE project (JS). The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 874724 -Equal-life (MF). Equal-life is part of the European Human Exposome Network. The Beatriu de Pinós Programme and the Ministry of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia (2017 BP 00173, MF). The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 886121 (IR). European Research Council Grant agreement number 785994 (H2020) – AirNB (JS). We also acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and State Research Agency through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S, https://www.ciencia.gob.es/site-web/en/Organismos-y-Centros/Centros-y-Unidades-de-Excelencia.html, and the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program (https://cerca.cat/).
  • dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
  • dc.identifier.citation Martínez-Vilavella G, Pujol J, Blanco-Hinojo L, Deus J, Rivas I, Persavento C, Sunyer J, Foraster M. The effects of exposure to road traffic noise at school on central auditory pathway functional connectivity. Environ Res. 2023 Jun 1;226:115574. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115574
  • dc.identifier.doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.115574
  • dc.identifier.issn 0013-9351
  • dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57368
  • dc.language.iso eng
  • dc.publisher Elsevier
  • dc.relation.ispartof Environ Res. 2023 Jun 1;226:115574
  • dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/268479
  • dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/874724
  • dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/886121
  • dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/785994
  • dc.rights © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
  • dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  • dc.subject.keyword Audition
  • dc.subject.keyword Brain
  • dc.subject.keyword Children
  • dc.subject.keyword Neuroimaging
  • dc.subject.keyword Noise
  • dc.subject.keyword Traffic
  • dc.title The effects of exposure to road traffic noise at school on central auditory pathway functional connectivity
  • dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
  • dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Col·leccions

Articles (Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) – Campus Mar)
Articles (Departament de Medicina i Ciències de la Vida)
Articles (Hospital del Mar Research Institute)
Documents OpenAIRE (Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe)