Loneliness During Pandemic Can Lead to Memory Loss

And loneliness among older adults may result in an estimated $6.7 billion in additional federal spending annually, according to a 2017 analysis of Medicare spending data by the AARP Public Policy Institute and Stanford University.

Your brain: ‘Use it or lose it’

How does loneliness result in cognitive decline? Bonakdarpour says, essentially, “It's a use-it-or-lose-it kind of thing.” More scientifically, he explains: “Proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease tend to accumulate in the brain for years, sometimes 20 years. The brain tries to compensate for it with what we call cognitive reserve.” That's the connections between neurons that have been built up by social interactions and other stimulating activities that make the brain more resilient.

"We need to have help people maintain brain health and keep your blood pressure controlled and eat well, but we also need to be stimulating the brain,” Rabins says. “I think of loneliness as a kind of social deprivation. You're depriving the brain of external emotional and social stimulation."

Complicating the issue is that depression often looks like dementia — and one can exacerbate the other: The isolation during the pandemic, Rabins says, “can lead to depression and demoralization, which also then has a negative effect on thinking. It can sometimes be difficult to disentangle."

Fighting back against loneliness

Many concerned people are stepping up to address loneliness during the pandemic, suggesting more telehealth visits and assistance with sensory issues such as hearing loss, a contributor to loneliness; hearing aids or other devices can often help someone with hearing loss feel more connected and alleviate those lonely feelings.

And nursing homes and assisted living facilities around the country are trying to help patients connect with families remotely using programs like FaceTime and Zoom, when they aren't allowed in-person visits due to the pandemic.

Vivek H. Murthy, a former U.S. surgeon general and author of Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, has been working to encourage all of us to help alleviate loneliness in the people around us, during the pandemic and beyond. Simply showing up and listening to them with our full attention is sometimes all it takes, he told AARP recently. One of the greatest gifts that we can give people is our presence, he said. It can “make people feel seen; it can make people feel that they matter. We don't need to be a nurse or a doctor to provide that kind of healing.”