Contextual & physiological markers for individual distress (CP-MIND). Brain health as a comprehensive framework for Mental-health equity

Abstract

Socioeconomic disadvantage shapes brain–mind health by intensifying exposures, resource scarcity, nutritional insecurity, violence, and weak social support, which dysregulate stress and immune systems. These conditions promote allostatic overload, whereby adaptive stress responses become maladaptive, degrading neural circuits for cognitive control and emotion regulation. In parallel, the microbiota–gut–brain axis links contextual adversity and diet quality to inflammation, barrier dysfunction, and neuroendocrine perturbations that further compromise resilience. Converging evidence connects these biological disruptions to structural and functional brain differences and higher risks of depression, anxiety, stress-related syndromes, and later neurodegeneration. While some sociocultural adaptations may bolster cooperation and communal coping, chronic physiological strain undermines durable resilience. This integrative review advances a combined framework, contextual & physiological markers for Individual distress, nested within a brain–mind health perspective, to organise how socioeconomic disadvantage-related exposures are embedded biologically via allostatic and microbiota–gut–brain axis pathways and manifest as social-cognitive difficulties and affective symptoms. We synthesise evidence across behaviour, neural systems, and systemic physiology to identify leverage points for intervention. Priorities include early multi-domain strategies that reduce chronic stressors; strengthen sleep, nutrition, and social cohesion; and test mechanistic interventions (e.g., allostatic regulation, psychobiotic or dietary modulation) within equity-focused, life-course designs. Understanding how contextual and physiological markers interact is essential for designing effective, scalable policies and clinical approaches that mitigate adversity’s neurobiological impact and reduce long-term disparities in brain–mind health.