Older people with restricted social contact reveal a higher decrease in brain volume, specifically in locations impacted by dementia, compared to those with regular interactions, according to a current research study.
Individuals in the older age bracket with restricted social interaction might be at a greater danger of experiencing a decrease in total brain volume, especially in areas that are frequently affected by dementia, compared to their equivalents who participate in routine social interactions, according to a research study just recently released in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
However, it is necessary to keep in mind that the research study just found a connection in between social seclusion and brain volume decline and does not show that social seclusion triggers brain shrinking.
“Social isolation is a growing problem for older adults,” stated research 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 research study included 8,896 individuals with a typical age of 73 who did not have dementia. They had MRI brain scans and health tests. To figure out social contact, individuals were asked one concern: How frequently are you in contact with loved ones or buddies who do not cope with you (e.g., conference or talking on the phone)? The options for answering were every day, a number of times a week, a number of times a month, and rarely.
The individuals with the most affordable quantity of social contact had total brain volume that was considerably lower than those with the most social contact. The overall brain volume, or the amount of white and grey matter, as a portion of the overall intracranial volume, or the volume within the cranium, consisting of the brain, meninges, and cerebrospinal fluid, was 67.3% in the most affordable contact group compared to 67.8% in the greatest contact group. They likewise had lower volumes in locations of the brain such as the hippocampus and amygdala that contribute in memory and are impacted by dementia.
The scientists considered other aspects that might impact brain volume, such as age, diabetes, cigarette smoking, and workout.
The socially separated individuals likewise had more little locations of damage in the brain, called white matter sores, than individuals with regular social contact. The portion of intracranial volume comprised of white matter sores was 0.30 for the socially separated group, compared to 0.26 for the most socially linked group.
The scientists discovered that signs of anxiety partially discussed the relationship in between social seclusion and brain volumes. However, signs of anxiety represented just 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 stated.
Since the research study included just older Japanese individuals, a restriction is that the findings might not be generalizable to individuals of other ethnic cultures and more youthful individuals.
Reference: “Association Between Frequency of Social Contact and Brain Atrophy in Community-Dwelling Older People Without Dementia – The JPSC-AD Study” by Naoki Hirabayashi, Takanori Honda, Jun Hata, Yoshihiko Furuta, Mao Shibata, Tomoyuki Ohara, Yasuko Tatewaki, Yasuyuki Taki, Shigeyuki Nakaji, Tetsuya Maeda, Kenjiro Ono, Masaru Mimura, Kenji Nakashima, Jun- ichi Iga, Minoru Takebayashi and Toshiharu Ninomiya, 12 July 2023, Neurology
DOI: 10.1212/ WNL.0000000000207602
The research study was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development and Suntory Holdings Limited.
