Older adults reporting social isolation or loneliness show poorer cognitive function 4 years later.

Context With the dramatic increase in life expectancy in developed countries, it has become important to identify factors that may mitigate the rising prevalence of cognitive dementia. The social environment in which older adults live has been linked to dementia, but the specific features of the social environment that are predictive have been elusive. Shankar and colleagues investigated the extent to which social isolation and perceived social isolation (loneliness) were predictive of declines in cognitive functioning.