Recent research has shown that social isolation changes the structure of the brain. This happens because the human brain has also developed thanks to social interaction, for this reason participating in events, concerts and festivals makes us euphoric. Membership in a group makes life more satisfying.
Unfortunately, however, many people live in total solitude and are socially isolated and this can lead to the change of the brain structure up to degeneration that leads to dementia for older people.
The research results were published in the scientific journal Neurology.
Social isolation: how it affects brain health
The new study showed that social isolation is linked to changes in brain structure and cognition – the mental process of acquiring knowledge – and is also responsible for an increased risk of dementia in the elderly. There is already a lot of evidence to support the social brain hypothesis. One study mapped brain regions associated with social interaction in approximately 7,000 volunteers.
Research has shown that brain regions constantly involved in different social interactions are strongly tied to networks that support cognition, including the default mode network (which is active when we are not focusing on the outside world), the salience network ( which helps us select what to pay attention to), the subcortical network (involved in memory, emotion and motivation) and the central executive network (which allows us to regulate our emotions).
Scientists involved in the research wanted to take a closer look at how social isolation affects gray matter: the regions of the brain in the outer layer of the brain, made up of neurons. In order to move the study forward, the researchers carefully studied data from nearly 500,000 people in the British biobank, with an average age of 57.
The individuals examined were divided into: socially isolated if they lived alone, had social contacts less than a month and participated in social activities less than a week. The study also covered neuroimaging (MRI) data from approximately 32,000 people. This work showed that socially isolated people exhibited poorer cognition, including in memory and reaction times, and a lower volume of gray matter in many parts of the brain.
These areas have included: the temporal region (which processes sounds and helps encode memory), the frontal lobe (which is involved in attention, planning, and complex cognitive tasks) and the hippocampus, a key area involved. in learning and memory, which is usually interrupted early in the Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers also found a link between the lower volumes of gray matter and specific genetic processes involved in Alzheimer’s disease.There were follow-ups with participants 12 years later. This highlighted that those who were socially isolated, but not alone, had a 26% higher risk of dementia.
Social isolation needs to be studied in more detail in future research to determine the exact mechanisms behind its profound effects on the brain.. But it is clear that if a person is isolated, he could suffer from chronic stress. This in turn has a big impact on his brain and also his physical health.
Another factor could be that if we don’t use certain areas of the brain, we lose some of their function. Research involving taxi drivers showed that the more routes and addresses they memorized, the more volume the hippocampus grew. It is possible that if a person does not engage in regular social discussions, for example, the use of language and other cognitive processes, such as attention and memory, will decrease. This can affect the ability to perform many complex cognitive tasks – memory and attention are key to complex cognitive thinking in general.
We know that a strong set of thinking skills throughout life, called “cognitive reserve “, it can be built by keeping the brain active. A good way to do this is to learn new things, such as another language or a musical instrument. Cognitive reserve has been shown to improve the course and severity of aging. For example, it can protect against a variety of mental health diseases or disorders, including dementia, schizophrenia and depression, especially following a head injury.
There are also lifestyle elements that can improve cognitive dynamics, which include a healthy diet and exercise. For Alzheimer’s disease there are some drug therapies, but the effectiveness of these must be improved and the side effects must be reduced.
Hopefully, there will be better treatments for aging and dementia in the future. One avenue of investigation in this regard are exogenous ketones, an alternative source to glucose, which can be ingested via dietary supplements. But as research has shown, addressing social isolation could also help, particularly in old age. Health authorities should do more to control those who are isolated and organize social activities to help them.
When people are unable to interact in person, technology can become a valuable aid against social isolation. However, this tool may be more applicable to younger generations who are familiar with the use of technology to communicate. But with training, it can also be effective in reducing social isolation in the elderly.
Social interaction is extremely important. One study found that the size of the social group they belong to is actually associated with the volume of the orbitofrontal cortex (involved in social cognition and emotions). But how many friends do we need? Researchers often refer to the “Dunbar number” to describe the size of social groups, finding that we are unable to maintain more than 150 relationships and typically only manage 5 deep relationships.
There are some reports however that suggest a lack of empirical evidence on Dunbar’s number and more research on optimal social group size is needed. It’s hard to argue with the fact that humans are social animals and enjoy interacting with others, whatever their age. But, as we are increasingly discovering, it is also crucial to the health of our cognition.
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