ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2022
Why the cognitive "fountain of youth" may be upstream: Pathways to dementia risk and resilience through social connectedness.
Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 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.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Social connections and risk of incident mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and mortality in 13 longitudinal cohort studies of ageing.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023Pooled it
- Associations between social connections and cognition: a global collaborative individual participant data meta-analysis.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of social relationships on cognitive decline in older adults: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Gender Differences in the Association Between Marriage and Cognitive Decline: Evidence From the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).PsyCh journal · 2026Article
- The social environment and cognitive aging over the life course: laying out critical concepts and research gaps.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- A Life Course Perspective on Cognitive Aging: The Interplay between Early and Later Life Stimulating Environments.Journal of health and social behavior · 2026Article
- High-Impact Participation? Social Activities, Activity Frequency, and Older Adult Cognition.Journal of aging and health · 2026Article
- Racial/ethnic variation of neighborhood social cohesion, loneliness, and cognitive functioning among midlife and older U.S. adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Social connection and cognitive health: A review of concepts, measures, and research priorities.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Social connectedness and cognitive outcomes in rural middle- to older-age adults.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Distinct social network structures and their cognitive and psychological correlates.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Social network structure and composition predicting cognitive impairment: racial/ethnic differences among older adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Is social connection the key to prevention? Educational attainment, incident dementia, and the role of later-life social engagement.Innovation in aging · 2026Article
- Psychosocial hierarchies of modifiable risk for Alzheimer's disease: A networks analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Predicting low premorbid cognitive ability with social determinants: A machine learning approach.JAR life · 2026Article
- Study on the Pathway Mechanism of Social Support and Quality of Life Between Self-Disclosure and Stigma Among Breast Cancer Patients During Recovery.The breast journal · 2026Article
- Article
- Inverting the 'dementia triangle' as a salutogenic approach to avoiding the "treadmill of disasters" in changed behaviors: a qualitative study.Frontiers in dementia · 2026Article
- How well do social frailty indices predict incident dementia in older adults?The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Research suggests social connectedness may help older adults with dementia maintain cognitive functionality and quality of life. However, little is known about its specific social and biological mechanisms. This paper proposes two pathways through social bridging (i.e., cognitive enrichment through expansive social networks) and bonding (i.e., neuroendocrine benefits of integration in cohesive social networks). We provide preliminary evidence for these pathways using neuroimaging, cognitive, and egocentric social network data from the Social Networks and Alzheimer's Disease (SNAD) study (N = 280). We found that network size, density, and presence of weak ties (i.e., social bridging) moderated the association between brain atrophy and cognitive function, while marriage/cohabitation (i.e., social bonding) moderated the association between perceived stress and cognitive function. We argue that social connectedness may have downstream implications for multiple pathophysiological processes in cognitive aging, even negating existing structural damage to the brain, making it a strong candidate for clinical or policy intervention.
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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.