Are people with "too borderline" personalities more likely to develop dementia? Japanese study: "Social isolation" may shrink brain capacity
“Loneliness” not only affects mood, but may actually affect “brain capacity”, leading to cognitive decline and the risk of dementia? A recent article in “Neurology”, a journal directly affiliated with the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), stated that compared with those who frequently socialize, lonely people or those who do not frequently socialize are more likely to have reduced brain volume and loss of brain areas, which are related to dementia in the future. may be associated with an increased risk of disease.
Does loneliness lead to dementia risk? Study: Social isolation may shrink brain capacity
A research team from Kyushu University in Japan recruited 8,896 subjects who had never suffered from dementia or dementia, with an average age of about 73 years old. Participants underwent brain MRI scans and health checks before the study to determine their brain health. In addition, the research team also used questionnaires to learn about the subjects’ social status, such as how often they contacted relatives and friends who did not live with them, or how often they went out to socialize.
After analysis, the results showed that people with the least social contact did have lower brain capacity than those with more social contact. The brain volume (or the sum of white matter and gray matter) of low-social people accounts for 67.3% of the total intracranial area (including brain, meninges, and cerebrospinal fluid); while that of high-social people is 67.8%. In addition, the low-social group also had lower volumes of brain regions such as the hippocampus and amygdala. These regions play an important role in memory function, and their functional impairment may lead to dementia.
The team included other factors that may affect brain size, such as age, diabetes, smoking and exercise. Further investigation also found that compared with the frequently high-social group, the low-social group also had more damage to small areas of the brain, called “white matter lesions.” White matter lesions as a percentage of intracranial volume were 0.3 in the socially isolated group compared with 0.26 in the most socially connected group.
Can senile dementia be reversed through social interaction? Scholars call for more contact with people when going out to help
Shunji Ninomiya, a doctor of medicine at Kyushu University and an author of the study, said that the subjects’ geriatric depression symptoms partially explained the relationship between social isolation and brain size. However, depression symptoms accounted for only 15 to 29% of the correlation, so more theory is needed to support it. What is certain is that loneliness caused by social isolation can be linked to brain damage and even dementia or dementia.
“While this study cannot confirm that social isolation definitely causes brain shrinkage, there is specific previous literature showing that exposing older adults to social groups can halt or even reverse the decline in brain volume and improve thinking and memory skills,” Ninomiya said. The doctor believes that improving people’s social isolation measures and encouraging them to get out of the house to socialize may help prevent brain volume loss and the potential risk of dementia.
Is loneliness worse than smoking? “Too Marginal” Makes Biological Age 1.65 Years Older
Based on the above research results, it can be seen that loneliness not only affects the psychological state, but may also be related to actual brain damage. What’s even more deadly is that according to a recent study published in the journal “Aging”, loneliness is more likely to accelerate “physiological aging” than smoking, eating habits or stress. On average, it will accelerate aging compared to healthy normal people. Nearly 1.65 years old.
A joint research team from Hong Kong and the United States used the “aging clock” statistical model they developed to measure the biological age status of about 12,000 people. The results of the model calculation revealed that the four biggest causes of shortening biological age are “loneliness”, “smoking”, “marriage” and “sleep problems”, which respectively increase the biological age aging rate by 1.65 years, 1.25 years and 0.59 years. and 0.44 years.
In addition, research also shows that subjects suffering from five diseases, including stroke, liver disease, lung disease, heart disease and cancer, have a significantly faster biological age. Study author Fedor Galkin pointed out that one of the key markers used to assess biological age is “systolic blood pressure” in blood pressure; the second is “cystatin C”, a protease inhibitor that assesses kidney function.
“Previous studies have linked cystatin C to new-onset depression. The model shows that subjects with higher loneliness have more obvious cystatin C markers in their bodies, indicating the psychological impact of loneliness. The problem may indeed affect biological age. “Galkin believes that if one of the same people whose actual age is 30 years old is over 40 years old, their life expectancy may be shorter and their quality of life may be worse. Therefore, the public should pay special attention to the impact of mental health on life span.
Source:
The Importance of Social Contact on Brain Atrophy among Older Individuals
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