Social Isolation tied to a higher risk of dementia

Social isolation is directly linked with lower brain volume in regions associated with learning and memory, making it a clear risk factor for dementia, scientists have found.

Researchers found that social isolation, but not loneliness, is linked to lower brain volume in findings published in the journal Neurology today (Wednesday 8 June).

Researchers suggest this means isolation could be used to predict the risk of someone in the UK developing dementia.

Taking a large cohort of people with an average age of 57 from across the UK and following them for nearly 12 years before the Covid-19 pandemic, they found:

• people who were socially isolated were 26% more likely to develop dementia compared to those who are not.
  
  
• however, loneliness – the internal feeling of being isolated from others – is not linked to an increased risk of developing dementia.