Social isolation linked to lower brain volume

Date:
July 12, 2023
Source:
American Academy of Neurology
Summary:
Older people who have little social contact with others may be
more likely to have loss of overall brain volume, and in areas
of the brain affected by dementia, than people with more frequent
social contact, according to a new study.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Older people who have little social contact with others may be more
likely to have loss of overall brain volume, and in areas of the brain
affected by dementia, than people with more frequent social contact,
according to a study published in the July 12, 2023, online issue of Neurology(R), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study does not prove that social isolation causes brain shrinkage;
it only shows an association.

"Social isolation is a growing problem for older adults," said study
author Toshiharu Ninomiya, MD, PhD, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka,
Japan. "These results suggest that providing support for people
to help them start and maintain their connections to others may be
beneficial for preventing brain atrophy and the development of dementia."
The study involved 8,896 people with an average age of 73 who did not
have dementia. They had MRI brain scans and health exams. To determine
social contact, people were asked one question: How often are you
in contact with relatives or friends who do not live with you (e.g.,
meeting or talking on the phone)? The choices for answering were every
day, several times a week, several times a month and seldom.

The people with the lowest amount of social contact had overall brain
volume that was significantly lower than those with the most social
contact. The total brain volume, or the sum of white and grey matter,
as a percentage of the total intracranial volume, or the volume within
the cranium, including the brain, meninges, and cerebrospinal fluid,
was 67.3% in the lowest contact group compared to 67.8% in the highest
contact group. They also had lower volumes in areas of the brain such as
the hippocampus and amygdala that play a role in memory and are affected
by dementia.

The researchers took into account other factors that could affect brain
volume, such as age, diabetes, smoking and exercise.

The socially isolated people also had more small areas of damage in the
brain, called white matter lesions, than the people with frequent social contact. The percentage of intracranial volume made up of white matter
lesions was 0.30 for the socially isolated group, compared to 0.26 for
the most socially connected group.

The researchers found that symptoms of depression partly explained
the relationship between social isolation and brain volumes. However,
symptoms of depression accounted for only 15% to 29% of the association.

"While this study is a snapshot in time and does not determine that social isolation causes brain atrophy, some studies have shown that exposing
older people to socially stimulating groups stopped or even reversed
declines in brain volume and improved thinking and memory skills, so
it's possible that interventions to improve people's social isolation
could prevent brain volume loss and the dementia that often follows,"
Ninomiya said.

Since the study involved only older Japanese people, a limitation is
that the findings may not be generalizable to people of other ethnicities
and younger people.

The study was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development and Suntory Holdings Limited.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Health_&_Medicine
# Psychology_Research # Brain_Tumor # Nervous_System #
Healthy_Aging
o Mind_&_Brain
# Psychology # Neuroscience # Intelligence # Brain_Injury
* RELATED_TERMS
o Social_cognition o Contact_lens o Social_psychology o
Dementia o Multi-infarct_dementia o Alzheimer's_disease o
Social_inclusion o Poison_ivy

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========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Alexa E Walter, Danielle Sandsmark. The Importance of Social
Contact on
Brain Atrophy among Older Individuals. Neurology, 2023; 10.1212/
WNL.0000000000207720 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207720 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230712165229.htm

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