We’ve all had moments when we walk into a room to grab something and completely forget what it is we needed. Usually, we blame it on stress or just a foggy brain. But according to a new study released today, April 14, in the journal Aging and Mental Health , the real culprit might be loneliness. That’s right, social isolation may negatively affect the memories of older adults, leading researchers to suggest that the loneliness epidemic is a legitimate threat to the brain’s wiring.
Socializing and engaging with groups in the outdoors are great ways to feel less alone in the world, according to therapists. Here’s what to know.
How Did the Researchers Test Memory Ability?
The study authors tracked seven years of data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe, which surveyed more than 10,000 older adults aged 65 to 94 who had no history of cognitive decline.
To test memory ability, people were asked to remember as many words from a ten-word list as quickly as possible immediately after researchers read the list aloud to them. They had one minute to recite all the words they did remember. Then they were asked to do it again, after one minute, and then a third time after five minutes. The researchers distracted participants during those time blocks to ensure people didn’t rehearse the words.
What Does It Really Mean to Be Lonely?
The researchers measured participants’ levels of loneliness, defined as “feeling alone,” and grouped them into three buckets: low, average, or high. Ninety-two percent of participants reported average or low levels of loneliness; eight percent reported high levels. The group with high levels of loneliness was mostly female and also reported depression and health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes.
It’s worth noting that because people self-reported their level of loneliness and health issues, there could be discrepancies in the data. Another limitation is that the researchers treated people’s loneliness levels as unchanging. In reality, though, people can feel more or less alone at many points in their lives.
The results? While those with the highest levels of loneliness performed worse in initial memory tests compared to those with low or average levels, everyone’s ability to remember information declined at a similar rate over the course of the seven years.
Read the full story: New Research Says That Loneliness Impacts Memory. Therapists Share the Best Ways to Socialize More. (Outside Magazine)
Original Research: Open access.
“Memory trajectories in lonely individuals in Europe: an analysis of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)” by Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria, Eliana Pineda-Mateus, Miguel German Borda, Encarnación Satorres, Carmen Bueno-López, and Juan Carlos Mélendez. Aging & Mental Health
DOI:10.1080/13607863.2026.2624569