Loneliness may be silently eroding your memory, new research reveals

Feeling lonely may take a toll on older adults’ memory — but it may not speed up cognitive decline, according to a new study.Researchers from Colombia, Spain and Sweden analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults ages 65 to 94 across 12 European countries and found those who reported higher levels of loneliness did worse on memory tests at the start of the study, according to research published this month in the journal Aging & Mental Health.Over a seven-year period, however, memory decline occurred at a similar rate regardless of how lonely participants felt.“The finding that loneliness significantly impacted memory, but not the speed of decline in memory over time was a surprising outcome,” lead author Dr.Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario said in a statement.“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said, adding that the findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness as a factor in cognitive performance.The findings add to debate about whether loneliness contributes to dementia risk.

While loneliness and social isolation are often considered risk factors for cognitive decline, research results have been mixed.The study looked at data from the long-running Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which tracked 10,217 older adults between 2012 and 2019.Participants were asked to recall words immediately and after a delay to measure memory performance.Loneliness was assessed using three questions about how often participants felt isolated, left out or lacking companionship.About 8% of participants reported high levels of loneliness at the outset.

That group tended to be older, more likely to be female and more likely to have conditions such as depression.Researchers found that those with higher loneliness had lower scores on both immediate and delay...