A new study published today in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, social isolation is associated with reduced brain volume in areas related to cognition and a higher risk of dementia. Social isolation was found to be associated with a 26% increased risk of dementia, independent of other risk variables such as depression and loneliness.
“Social isolation is a serious yet underrecognized public health problem that is often associated with old age,” says Jianfeng Feng, the study lead. “In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation, or the state of being cut off from social networks, has intensified. It’s more important than ever to identify people who are socially isolated and provide resources to help them make connections in their community .”
The study examined 462,619 people in the United Kingdom who were monitored for approximately 12 years before the pandemic, with an average age of 57 at the start of the study. Of those, 41,886, or 9 percent, reported social isolation, while 29,036, or 6 percent, reported feeling lonely. During the course of the study, 4,998 people developed dementia.
Scientists gathered survey responses from participants, coupled with a wide range of physiological tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To examine their cognitive function, participants also underwent thinking and memory tasks. People were asked three questions about social interaction for social isolation: whether they lived with others, whether they had at least once-a-month visits with friends or relatives, and whether they participated in social activities such as clubs, meetings, or volunteer work at least once a week. If someone said no to at least two questions, they were considered to be socially isolated.
649 persons, or 1.55 percent, of the 41,886 people with social isolation got dementia, compared to 4,349 people, or 1.03 percent, of the 420,733 adults without social isolation.
After correcting for characteristics such as age, sex, socioeconomic position, alcohol consumption and smoking, as well as other conditions such as depression and loneliness, researchers discovered that socially isolated individuals had less gray matter in learning and thinking-related brain regions. People who were socially isolated were shown to be 26% more likely to develop dementia than those who were not socially isolated. Researchers also examined loneliness, but after correcting for confounding variables, found no clear link between loneliness and the development of dementia.
“People who reported high levels of social isolation had significant differences in brain volume, also associated with cognition and dementia,” Feng explained. “Given the findings of this study, social isolation may be an early indicator of an increased risk of dementia.”
People who reported feeling more socially isolated had decreased gray matter volume in areas of the brain involved with learning and reasoning. Overall, lower gray matter volumes were linked to a higher level of social isolation, according to the findings.
The study’s findings may not apply to the broader community because participants reported fewer health issues and were less likely to live alone than the overall population.
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