Social isolation linked to higher risk of dementia

Staying connected to others may help protect your brain as you age, new research reveals.

The study showed that social isolation -- but not loneliness -- can cause changes to certain brain structures and increase the risk of dementia.

The findings suggest that social isolation could be used as predictor of dementia risk, the British researchers added.

"There is a difference between social isolation, which is an objective state of low social connections, and loneliness, which is subjectively perceived social isolation," said Edmund Rolls, a neuroscientist in the University of Warwick's department of computer science. "Both have risks to health but ... we have been able to show that it is social isolation, rather than the feeling of loneliness, which is an independent risk factor for later dementia."

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