Critical Review of Neurobiological Evidence for Relationships Between Social Isolation, Loneliness and the Risk of Developing of Alzheimer's Disease: A New Model.

Abstract

Background: It is known that people who are socially isolated and lonely are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease (AD) than people who are neither socially isolated nor lonely. This work addresses the direct impact of socially isolation and loneliness on the brain. Aim: To review the neurobiological evidence on the relationships between social isolation, loneliness and AD pathogenesis. Method: Neurobiological literature in relation to social isolation, loneliness and how these factors impact risk of AD was reviewed. A new model providing a framework to describe the links between these pieces of evidence was created. Results: Social isolation contributes to AD pathogenesis via neuroinflammation and stress pathways. Loneliness is linked to AD risk mainly through its strong association with depression. Conclusion: Although social isolation and loneliness are typically linked together, they should be considered separately in the context of AD because, neurobiologically, social isolation is more closely linked to AD than loneliness is linked to AD. Implications: Clinicians should be cognisant that socially isolated people who are not lonely may be at higher risk for AD than people experiencing loneliness who are not socially isolated. Measures of depression are likely more appropriate for appraising AD risk than measures of loneliness.