ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2020
Social Isolation and Memory Decline in Later-life.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Health effects of social connectedness in older adults living in congregate long-term care settings: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence.International journal of older people nursing · 2023Pooled it
- Are social isolation and loneliness associated with cognitive decline in ageing?Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Associations between social connections and cognition: a global collaborative individual participant data meta-analysis.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2022Pooled it
- Social isolation in mid-life: associations with psychological distress, life satisfaction and self-rated health in two successive British birth cohorts.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Changes in social health among older adults: a random intercept latent transition analysis from China.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Timing of retirement and cognitive decline among older black adults: Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR).Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Occupational autonomy and cognitive function: the moderating role of educational attainment.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Synergistic effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and a dance movement intervention on mild cognitive impairment: study protocol for a four-arm factorial randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Reciprocal associations between social isolation and self-rated health among older adults in China: findings from the China longitudinal aging social survey (2018-2020).Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Generalized additive mixed models to discern data-driven theoretically informed strategies for public brain, cognitive and mental health.European journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- The relationship between social isolation, depressive symptoms and cognitive function in older adults: a longitudinal mediation study in China.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Individual differences in experiential diversity shape event segmentation granularity.iScience · 2025Article
- Perceived neighborhood safety, crime exposure, and chronic diseases among older Indians: The role of functional disabilities.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle-aged rats.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- The Impact of an Intergenerational Service Learning Program on Psychological Distress for Homebound Older Adults.Journal of gerontological social work · 2025Article
- Unique events improve episodic richness, enhance mood, and alter the perception of time during isolation.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Social Isolation Changes and Long-Term Outcomes Among Older Adults.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Environmental Enrichment Improves the Recognition Memory in Adult Mice Following Social Isolation via Downregulation of Kv4.2 Potassium Channels.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Article
- Demographic and Behavioral Risk Factors Predict Functional Limitations Associated with Subjective Cognitive Decline in Americans with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Secondary Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Executive function mediates age-related variation in social integration in female vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus).GeroScience · 2024Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate associations between level and changes in social isolation and in memory in older men and women.
methodsThe sample included 6,123 women and 5,110 men aged 50+ from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). Extended latent change score models from six measurement occasions every 2 years from 2002 were used to investigate associations between social isolation and memory. Models were adjusted for age, socioeconomic position, and health.
resultsSocial isolation increased and memory decreased over time. Among men an initially high level of social isolation was associated with a somewhat greater decrease in memory. Among women a greater increase in social isolation predicted a greater decrease in memory and a larger change in social isolation was associated with further larger changes in isolation, although when social isolation reached a higher level it subsequently decreased.
conclusionsResults suggest that the association between social isolation and memory decline arises because social isolation is associated with increased memory decline rather than poor memory leading to increases in social isolation. Men with high levels of social isolation and women with accumulated social isolation over time are especially affected as these patterns of isolation were associated with more profound memory decline.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.