Older individuals with restricted social contact reveal a higher decrease in brain volume, especially in locations impacted by dementia, compared to those with frequent interactions, according to a recent research study.
People in the older age bracket with restricted social interaction may be at a higher danger of experiencing a reduction in general brain volume, especially in areas that are often affected by dementia, compared to their counterparts who participate in routine social interactions, according to a study just recently released in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
It is essential to keep in mind that the research study only found a connection in between social isolation and brain volume decrease and does not show that social isolation triggers brain shrinking.
” Social seclusion is a growing problem for older grownups,” stated study author Toshiharu Ninomiya, MD, PhD, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. “These results recommend that providing assistance for people to help them start and keep their connections to others may be beneficial for avoiding brain atrophy and the advancement of dementia.”
They had MRI brain scans and health examinations. The individuals with the lowest quantity of social contact had general brain volume that was substantially lower than those with the most social contact. The overall brain volume, or the amount of grey and white matter, as a portion of the total intracranial volume, or the volume within the cranium, including the brain, meninges, and cerebrospinal fluid, was 67.3% in the least expensive contact group compared to 67.8% in the highest contact group. They likewise had lower volumes in areas of the brain such as the hippocampus and amygdala that play a function in memory and are affected by dementia.
The research study included 8,896 people with an average age of 73 who did not have dementia. They had MRI brain scans and health tests. To identify social contact, individuals 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, numerous times a month, and seldom.
The people with the least expensive amount of social contact had total brain volume that was substantially 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 most affordable contact group compared to 67.8% in the greatest contact group. They likewise had lower volumes in areas of the brain such as the hippocampus and amygdala that play a function in memory and are affected by dementia.
The scientists took into account other elements that might impact brain volume, such as age, diabetes, workout, and cigarette smoking.
The socially isolated people likewise had more small areas of damage in the brain, called white matter lesions, than individuals with regular social contact. The percentage of intracranial volume made up of white matter sores was 0.30 for the socially separated group, compared to 0.26 for the most socially linked group.
The researchers discovered that signs of anxiety partly described the relationship in between social seclusion and brain volumes. Nevertheless, symptoms of anxiety accounted for only 15% to 29% of the association.
” While this research study is a picture in time and does not determine that social seclusion triggers brain atrophy, some studies have actually revealed that exposing older individuals to socially promoting groups stopped or perhaps reversed declines in brain volume and enhanced thinking and memory abilities, so its possible that interventions to enhance peoples social seclusion could avoid brain volume loss and the dementia that typically follows,” Ninomiya said.
Considering that the study involved only older Japanese individuals, a constraint is that the findings might not be generalizable to people of other ethnicities and younger individuals.
Recommendation: “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 study was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development and Suntory Holdings Limited.