Association between loneliness and cognitive function, and brain volume in community-dwelling elderly

Hunju Lee; Sang Yeol Yong; Hyowon Choi; Ga Young Yoon; Sangbaek Koh

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2024.1389476

Association between loneliness and cognitive function, and brain volume in community-dwelling elderly

Front Aging Neurosci. 2024 Apr 29:16:1389476. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1389476. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Hunju Lee^{1

2}, Sang Yeol Yong^{3

4}, Hyowon Choi¹, Ga Young Yoon⁵, Sangbaek Koh^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preventive Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
² Institute of Genomic Cohort, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
⁴ International Olympic Committee Research Centre Korea, Yonsei Institute of Sports Science and Exercise Medicine, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Introduction: We investigated the relationship between loneliness, cognitive impairment, and regional brain volume among elderly individuals residing in the Korean community.

Methods: Data from the ARIRANG aging-cognition sub-cohort, collected between 2020 and 2022, were utilized for the present study. Loneliness was assessed using the UCLA-Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS) questionnaire and the relevant item from Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Korean version (CES-D-K). Cognitive impairment was measured through Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE-2) and Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery (SNSB-C), with five sub-categories: attention, memory, visuospatial function, language, and executive function. Logistic regression was employed for prevalence ratios related to cognitive impairment, while linear regression was used for regional brain volume including white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and cortical thickness.

Results: Our analysis involved 785 participants (292 men and 493 women). We observed increased cognitive impairment assessed by K-MMSE-2 [UCLA-LS: odds ratio (OR) 3.133, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.536-6.393; loneliness from CES-D: OR 2.823, 95% CI 1.426-5.590] and SNSB-C total score (UCLA-LS: OR 2.145, 95% CI 1.304-3.529) in the lonely group compared to the non-lonely group. Specifically, the lonely group identified by UCLA-LS showed an association with declined visuospatial (OR 1.591, 95% CI 1.029-2.460) and executive function (OR 1.971, 95% CI 1.036-3.750). The lonely group identified by CES-D-K was associated with impaired memory (OR 1.577, 95% CI 1.009-2.466) and executive function (OR 1.863, 95% CI 1.036-3.350). In the regional brain volume analysis, loneliness was linked to reduced brain volume in frontal white matter (left: -1.24, 95% CI -2.37 ∼-0.12; right: -1.16, 95% CI -2.31 ∼ -0.00), putamen (left: -0.07, 95% CI -0.12 ∼-0.02; right: -0.06, 95% CI -0.11 ∼-0.01), and globus pallidus (-15.53, 95% CI -30.13 ∼-0.93). There was no observed association in WMH and cortical thickness.

Conclusion: Loneliness is associated with cognitive decline and volumetric reduction in the frontal white matter, putamen, and globus pallidus.

Keywords: cognition; dementia; loneliness; neuroimaing; neuropsychological test.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the Institute of Genomic Cohort for providing data. Additionally, this work was supported by the research program funded by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (2023-E0604-01).