Lifebrain Newsletter March 2022
 

Does loneliness affect your memory?

In an earlier Lifebrain newsletter we reported preliminary findings suggesting that loneliness may accelerate memory decline in older age. This time, Lifebrain researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) have found nuances in these observations: some people feeling lonely over time may have declining verbal memory, and that it is closely linked to dementia.
The study focused on whether loneliness was associated with memory performance and memory decline in three European cohorts.

What is loneliness?

Loneliness is considered a negative feeling associated with dissatisfaction with the quantity and quality of social connections. Being lonely does not necessarily imply being alone. Thus, one can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. Loneliness affects physical and mental health, furthermore, it increases the risk of cognitive decline.

Methods

Data were drawn from two cohorts of older adults (Swedish and German samples) and one cohort of Danish adolescents (1537 participants in total). Loneliness was monitored using questionnaire items including responses to if one feels being part of a group or whether one has people around whom they can talk to. Episodic memory was measured using word-recall tasks.

Loneliness linked to memory decline in some people

Using European longitudinal data of participants over time, the researchers observed that feelings of loneliness were associated with memory decline among the Swedish participants but not the German ones.
“Cultural differences in how people perceive and deal with social isolation might partially account for the differences encountered,” says lead author of the study, Cristina Solé-Padullés, from the University of Barcelona.

Link driven by dementia

Furthermore, the association between loneliness and memory decline in the Swedish cohort was lost once some participants were excluded after having developed dementia during study assessments. The fact that this association was no longer significant once these patients were ruled out, reinforces the association between loneliness and cognitive decline, already found in previous studies.

Loneliness is not linked to brain structure

Previous studies have pointed out that some brain regions linked to emotional processing and empathy could be the neurobiological link to loneliness. Thus, the present Lifebrain study also explored whether loneliness could be linked to specific brain structures. The researchers coupled MRI data to participants’ feeling of loneliness. However, no significant associations were observed between loneliness and any brain regions.
So, the answer to the question: “Does loneliness affect your memory?” is thus not clear-cut. Solé-Padullés concludes:
“Associations between loneliness and memory decline are not consistent among countries and age-groups, partly because there are cultural differences making some people more tolerant to social isolation. Loneliness can cause memory decline in some older adults, but memory decline can also cause increased feelings of loneliness.”

Reference

Source of newsletter

This newsletter was written by Cristina Solé-Padullés, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona.