Loneliness and biomarkers of brain pathology in people with subjective cognitive decline
Loneliness is a neuropsychiatric symptom that has been associated with cognitive impairment and dementia. We aimed to investigate whether depressive symptomatology and biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) are associated with loneliness. Secondly, we aimed to investigate whether loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and biomarkers of AD and CVD are associated with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). We included 215 cognitively unimpaired participants (70 y/o) with cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, magnetic resonance imaging, and questionnaires for loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and SCD. For aim 1, our findings showed that CVD and depressive symptomatology were the most relevant measures to discriminate people with loneliness. For aim 2, a random forest classification model showed that loneliness contributed to discriminate individuals with SCD, but logistic regression showed that its partial predictive effect was non-significant when depressive symptomatology and AD biomarkers were included in the models. We conclude that loneliness is associated with SCD, CVD, and depressive symptomatology. Given the complex interplay between loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and SCD, more research is needed to fully clarify the unique role of each neuropsychiatric symptom in relation to biomarkers of brain pathology.
Authors
- Nira Cedrés (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1850-6451)
- Simona Sacuiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0472-7699)
- Mariola Zapater‐Fajarí (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2529-4220)
- Daniel Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9522-4338)
- Margda Wærn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8330-6915)
- Anna Zettergren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7182-8417)
- Alicia Salvador (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8686-8083)
- Isabel Crespo-Sanmiguel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7276-1592)
- Ingmar Gr. Skoog (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9803-3438)
- Vanesa Hidalgo
- Kaj Blennow
- Silke Kern (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7617-7214)
- Henrik Zetterberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3930-4354)
- Eric Westman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3115-2977)
- Therese Rydberg Sterner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8202-8522)
- Lina Rydén (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3817-2620)
Institutions
- Universitat de València (ES)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- Universidad de Zaragoza (ES)
- Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SE)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Universidad Fernando Pessoa Canarias (ES)
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (ES)
- Medical Research Network (US)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-04-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-95411-1
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.41
Funders
- Alzheimer's Association
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation
- Familjen Erling-Perssons Stiftelse
- Gun och Bertil Stohnes Stiftelse
- Stiftelsen för Gamla Tjänarinnor
- EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- European Commission
- Stiftelsen för Strategisk Forskning
- Generalitat Valenciana
- Hjärnfonden
- Karolinska Institutet
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Konung Gustaf V:s och Drottning Victorias Frimurarestiftelse
- Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd
- Alzheimerfonden
- Gobierno de Aragón
- UK Dementia Research Institute
- Demensfonden
- National Institutes of Health
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- Center for Innovative Medicine
- European Social Fund