The Human Connectome Project, since its launch in 2009 as NIH’s Blueprint Grand Challenge, has mapped and continues to map the neural pathways underlying human brain function. Advancements in the identification of brain imaging measures of connectivity as an aid in diagnosis of diseases has also been made. Yet, our collective understanding about the structural drivers of the human connectome remains limited.

The field of human connectomics is equipped to close multiple scientific gaps in the general knowledge of, “how do structural and social drivers of health shape brain connectivity in healthy aging and across the lifespan?” Social determinants of health are “the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems” (WHO Definition).

In this Research Topic, we are searching for answers to two key questions,

1. What is “typical” brain health connectivity within the context of structural and social determinants of health?

2. How do structural and social drivers influence brain connectivity in healthy aging ahead of observable cognitive changes?

We strongly encourage the submission of manuscripts where the lead and/or corresponding author is a BIPOC trainees and junior faculty. We continue to encounter the underrepresentation of BIPOC trainees, and junior faculty in various aspects of academic life, including an imbalance in health equity in neuroscience citations. While several initiatives have been created to increase their visibility, the gap remains.

We encourage submissions of: Review, Systemic Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Case Reports and Original Research.

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Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

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