Social isolation, cognitive reserve, and cognition in healthy older people

Evans, Isobel E.M.; Llewellyn, David J.; Matthews, Fiona E.; Woods, Bob; Brayne, Carol; Clare, Linda

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0201008

Cited by 171 publications

(166 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In spite of this, whether or not bilingualism confers any benefit in age-related disorders remains a hotly debated topic. On the one hand, the linguistic profile of a bilingual, i.e language proficiency (Bialystok & Feng, 2009;Xie, 2018) and usage (de Bruin, 2020), as well as other cognitive reserve factors, i.e.-social activity (Evans et al, 2018;Scarmeas & Stern, 2003) and occupation (Darwish, Farran, Assaad, & Chaaya, 2018), might act to highlight or, conversely, mask such a bilingual advantage. On the other hand, the incomplete understanding of what drives the effect (if any) (Bak, 2016) makes it more difficult to define the outcome measures and thus increases the probability of false conclusions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active bilingualism delays the onset of mild cognitive impairment

et al. 2020

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Lifelong bilingualism may contribute to cognitive reserve (CR) in neurodegenerative diseases as shown by a delay of the age at symptom onset in bilinguals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). However, some studies have failed to show this bilingual advantage, suggesting that it might depend on the type and degree of bilingualism. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that active bilingualism, defined as the continuous use of the two languages as opposed to second language exposition only, may protect against cognitive decline. Moreover, we investigated whether bilingualism as a CR factor may be explained by an advantage within the executive control (EC) system. To do so, we collected clinical measures (age at onset of cognitive symptoms, age at the first medical visit for cognitive impairments, and age at diagnosis) in patients with MCI and patients with AD with different degrees of language experience and usage of Catalan and Spanish. Additionally, all participants were tested on four EC tasks and one long-term memory recognition task. First, results from multiple regression analyses showed that active bilingualism was a significant predictor of delay in the age at onset for all the clinical measures in MCI, but not AD patients. Second, the effect of active bilingualism was independent of occupation, educational level and job attainment across the individuals' lifespan. Finally, although we did not find an effect of active bilingualism across all EC tasks, we did find an effect for conflict resolution. These results are discussed in the context of CR hypotheses, suggesting that compensatory mechanisms may play a role in protecting against cognitive decline.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active bilingualism delays the onset of mild cognitive impairment

et al. 2020

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“…4 An association between social isolation and cognitive functioning has been demonstrated by recent cross-sectional 5 and longitudinal studies. 6,7 For example, it has been shown that social isolation is related to decreased cognitive function based on data from a A recent systematic review on the longitudinal association between social isolation and cognitive functioning showed that these factors are weakly associated. 8 However, most of these longitudinal studies focused on social network and social activities without using standardized instruments (eg, using living alone as a surrogate for social isolation).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived social isolation and cognitive functioning. Longitudinal findings based on the German Ageing Survey

Hajek

Riedel‐Heller

König

2019

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

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Objectives: There is a lack of longitudinal studies, which are both based on nationally representative samples and use standardized instruments to quantify social isolation.Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the link between perceived social isolation and cognitive functioning longitudinally.Methods/Design: Longitudinal data with n = 6420 from 2014 (wave 5) to 2017 (wave 6) were drawn from the German Ageing Survey (nationally representative sample of individuals aged 40 years and over). Perceived social isolation was assessed using a scale by Bude and Lantermann. Cognitive functioning was quantified using the established digit symbol test. To reduce the problem of unobserved heterogeneity, linear fixed effects regressions were used.Results: Regressions showed that increases in perceived social isolation were associated with decreases in cognitive functioning. With regard to covariates, decreases in cognitive functioning were associated with increases in aging and worsening selfrated health, whereas changes in marital status, employment status, income, physical functioning, and physical illnesses were not associated with the outcome measure.Conclusions: Based on a nationally representative sample and exploiting the panel data structure, the study findings extend current knowledge by showing that increasing perceived social isolation contributes to decreases in cognitive functioning among individuals aged 40 years and over longitudinally. Future longitudinal studies based on panel data methods are required to validate the study findings. K E Y W O R D Scognition, cognitive functioning, social disconnectedness, social exclusion, social isolation | INTRODUCTIONIt is widely acknowledged that there is an ongoing change in the demographic structure of industrialized countries, meaning that the number of individuals in late life is increasing continuously. It is also widely understood that age is associated with decreases in cognitive functioning.Moreover, higher age is associated with increased social isolation. 1 Cognitive functioning 2 and social isolation 3 are both associated with subsequent morbidity and mortality, highlighting the importance of these factors.Social isolation is linked to decreased social activities or social engagement, which, in turn, can stimulate cognitive functioning. 4An association between social isolation and cognitive functioning has been demonstrated by recent cross-sectional 5 and longitudinal studies. 6,7 For example, it has been shown that social isolation is related to decreased cognitive function based on data from a Spanish nationally representative sample (n = 1691; individuals ≥50 years; two waves). Similar findings were made by Evans et al based on longitudinal data from the Cognitive Function and

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“…When data are disaggregated by sex, husbands who are caregivers are at greater risk for developing dementia than caregiving wives, suggesting that women may effectively find protection in other social ties or an earlier history of social support, while men may not find such ties outside of their marriage (e.g., Dykstra & Gierveld, 2014). Theoretically, since women are more likely to seek social support than men (Billings and Moos, 1981;Folkman and Lazarus, 1980;Hamilton and Fagot, 1988;Stone and Neale, 1984) one would think that social support would be a larger contributor to women's cognitive reserve (Evans et al, 2018). However, based on the dearth of studies in women, further research examining sex differences in social support are required to understand how different kinds of social support would mitigate against AD pathology.…”

Section: Social Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in cognitive reserve: implications for Alzheimer’s Disease in women

Subramaniapillai¹,

Almey²,

Mn³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Women represent ⅔ of the cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Current research has focused on differential risks to explain higher rates of AD in women. However, factors that reduce risk for AD, like cognitive reserve, are less well explored. We asked: what is known about sex differences in how cognitive reserve mitigates risk for AD? To address this, we conducted a narrative review of the literature. Keywords were: “sex/gender differences”, “cognitive/brain reserve”, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, and the following cognitive reserve contributors: “education”, “IQ”, “occupation”, “cognitive stimulation”, “bilingualism”, “socioeconomic status”, “physical activity”, “social support”. Fifteen papers disaggregated their data by sex. Those papers observed sex differences in cognitive reserve contributors. There is also evidence that a subset of women may have greater resistance to AD, possibly due to greater cognitive reserve. We discuss how traditional cognitive reserve contributors are gendered and may not capture factors that support cognition in aging women.

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Social isolation, cognitive reserve, and cognition in healthy older people

Cited by 171 publications

References 42 publications

Active bilingualism delays the onset of mild cognitive impairment

Active bilingualism delays the onset of mild cognitive impairment

Perceived social isolation and cognitive functioning. Longitudinal findings based on the German Ageing Survey

Sex differences in cognitive reserve: implications for Alzheimer’s Disease in women

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