Loneliness lowers memory scores in old age, 6-year study reveals
Older adults who feel lonely score measurably worse on memory tests than those who don’t, but their memory doesn’t deteriorate any faster. That is what a recent study of more than 10,000 Europeans conducted for six years reveals and how scientists and physicians need to understand social isolation within the scope of public health risks.
According to the results of their study, published in the journal Ageing & Mental Health, the team of Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria, a professor at Universidad del Rosario School of Medicine and Health Sciences, based their work on information provided by the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).
Over six years, 10,217 adults aged 65 to 94, drawn from 12 European countries, were assessed on loneliness levels and performance on immediate and delayed recall memory tests. The results were consistent: higher loneliness correlated with lower starting memory scores. The rate of decline, however, was virtually identical to participants who reported no loneliness.
“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said.
Age continued to be the most significant predictor for memory performance. Declines became more pronounced after age 75 and increased dramatically after 85. Depression and other medical conditions such as diabetes lowered base scores regardless of loneliness levels.
On the other hand, physical activity had the opposite effect. Individuals who performed moderate or strenuous physical activities at least once a month showed better recall performance on immediate and delayed tasks. Researchers described this effect as a cognitive buffer; it raised the baseline without changing how quickly memory declined over time.
Practical implications of this discovery exist. If loneliness only hinders normal cognitive capacity without leading to neurodegenerative disorders, then it would be better to start treatment through socialisation at a younger age when people are still under seventy years old, thereby enabling them to maintain a higher baseline level for more extended periods of time.
It has been suggested that previous studies have found many ways in which loneliness could negatively impact cognitive functioning. These include fewer social interactions, a higher incidence of depression, and a higher incidence of hypertension and other medical conditions that could cause cognitive impairment.
