American Academy of Neurology — MedicalXPress, 8 June 2022
Social isolation is linked to lower brain volume in areas related to cognition and a higher risk of dementia, according to research published in the 8 June 2022 online issue of Neurology. The study looked at 462,619 people across The United Kingdom, with an average age of 57 at the beginning of the study who were followed for nearly 12 years before the pandemic. Of those, 9% reported being socially isolated and 6% felt lonely. During the study, 4,998 developed dementia.
Researchers found that socially isolated individuals had lower volume of the brain’s grey matter in various regions involved with learning and thinking. People who were socially isolated were 26% more likely to develop dementia than those with no social isolation. Researchers also looked at loneliness, but after adjusting, saw no strong correlation with developing dementia. “Social isolation is a serious yet under-recognised public health problem that is often associated with old age,” said study author Dr Jianfeng Feng of Fudan University in Shanghai, China. “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.”