【The Lancet】Long-term feeling of loneliness will weaken brain function, and women are more obvious!

This article is the original of the translational medicine network, please indicate the source when reprinting

Author: Mia

Loneliness is a subjective experience – including cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions – caused
by differences between expected and actual social relationships.
Recently, a team of researchers has explored whether persistent loneliness is associated
with cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in brain structures.

Recently, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine published a study
entitled "Different loneliness types, cognitive function, and brain structure in midlife: Findings from the Framingham Heart Study" in eClinicalMedicine 。 The study aimed to analyze the relationship between
different types of loneliness, cognitive function, and regional brain volume.

DOI:https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
eclinm.
2022.
101643

Research background

 01 

Loneliness is a subjective experience—including cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions—that is caused
by differences between expected and actual social relationships.
Feeling lonely in middle age has been identified as a risk factor for health threats, including a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke and death
.
Some people can recover from loneliness by using a variety of coping techniques, while others suffer
from persistent loneliness.

Using data from the second generation of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), the research team previously found that the risk of Alzheimer's (AD) is increased only when adults consistently feel lonely, not temporary loneliness
.
Another study found that long-term loneliness had a greater negative impact on cognitive function than short-term loneliness, as assessed by a
single cognitive test (Mini Mental State Test (MMSE)).
Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that there may be different biological pathways
to link the type of loneliness to cognitive function and brain structure, depending on the duration of loneliness.

People who feel lonely for a long time may be less likely to participate in cognitive stimulation environments, which can have detrimental effects on
brain health.
On the other hand, people who are able to recover from loneliness may participate in more diverse activities and engage in more stimulating social interactions to prevent cognitive decline
.
The cognitive reserve hypothesis suggests that participation in the cognitive stimulation environment is associated
with better memory and executive function.
Therefore, the researchers hypothesized that persistent loneliness is associated
with AD pathology-related cognitive decline and atrophy of brain regions.

Research overview

 02 

The study included 2609 participants with an average age of 46.
3 ± 8.
6 years, of whom 1400 (54%) were women
.
To examine the relationship between different types of loneliness, cognitive function, and brain volume, the researchers used data from third-generation FHS to define four types of loneliness in two health checks: non-loneliness, occasional loneliness, transient loneliness, and persistent loneliness
.

Of these, 1,813 (69.
5%) participants reported no loneliness, 219 (8.
4%) were accidental loneliness, 353 (13.
5%) had transient loneliness, and 224 (8.
6%) had persistent loneliness
.
Participants who reported persistent loneliness were more likely to be female, depressed, smoking, had a higher BMI, were single, and unemployed
compared to other lonely types of participants.

The researchers also performed cognitive tests on subjects (two CERAD and VST cognitive tests) to analyze the association
of loneliness type with cognition.
The analysis found that persistent loneliness in middle age was more closely
associated with cognitive decline, particularly in the areas of logical memory and executive function, than with transient or occasional loneliness.

Second, to study the relationship between the type of loneliness and brain volume, the researchers used subsamples with available brain MRI data (N = 1,829
).
After controlling the covariates, persistent autism was associated
with a smaller temporal lobe volume compared with no autism.

In addition, the relationship between persistent loneliness, cognitive decline, and brain structures, especially the hippocampus and temporal lobe, is stronger
in women.
And women's loneliness is also related
to a larger ventricular volume.
Previous studies have found that reaction inhibition is associated with ventricular volume, an important subcomponent of executive function, and is closely related
to the progression of AD.

Research summary

 03 

Overall, the study lays the foundation
for the early diagnosis and treatment of chronic loneliness and ultimately for the early prevention and intervention of cognitive decline and AD.
In addition, the study also proposes the direction of future research on which socio-environmental factors can help people cope with the negative effects of persistent loneliness on
the brain.

Resources:

DOI:https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
eclinm.
2022.
101643

Note: This article is intended to introduce medical research advances and cannot be used as a reference for
treatment options.
For health guidance, please visit a regular hospital
.

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