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Cited by 103Health disparities and outcomesStress Responses and CortisolDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion

The Pathophysiology of Perceived Social Isolation: Effects on Health and Mortality

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Bhatti, Adnan Bashir, Haq, Anwar ul·2017·Cureus
DOI 10.7759/cureus.994PMC PMC5367921
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Abstract

Perceived social isolation (PSI) is a deficit in normal human social interaction, which has been associated with negative health outcomes. However, the precise mechanisms through which PSI influences human health are not fully known. This review aims at bringing out what is known about these pathways through which social isolation affects human health. We searched PubMed, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica dataBASE (EMBASE), Psychological Information Database (PsycINFO), and Cochrane Library in addition to secondary references from primary journal articles for the most relevant and recent information concerning the research topic. The keywords used were perceived social isolation, loneliness, health outcomes, cardiovascular effects, neuroendocrine effects, depression, and cognitive decline, in animal and human populations. There are clear linkages between PSI and the cardiovascular system, neuroendocrine system, and cognitive functioning. PSI also leads to depression, cognitive decline, and sleep problems. The mechanisms through which PSI causes these effects are neural, hormonal, genetic, emotional, and behavioral. The effects of PSI on health are both direct and indirect. There is a complex interconnected network of pathways through which PSI negatively influences health. These hypothetical pathways using which the effects of PSI have been explained form the base on which further analyses can be carried out.

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  • Older adults who are not exposed to the Internet are more likely to experience social isolation, loneliness, and depression due to digital exclusion.

    “First, older adults who are not exposed to the Internet are more likely to experience social isolation, loneliness, and depression due to digital exclusion.”

    From Digital exclusion and cognitive impairment in older people: findings from five longitudinal studies (2024) · cites this paper as [35]

    The Review’s “Psychological/behavioral effects of PSI” section links loneliness with depression, and its discussion of elderly individuals describes loneliness and difficulty maintaining social relationships. It does not address Internet exposure or digital exclusion, so it does not support the claimed reason older adults would be more likely to experience isolation, loneliness, or depression. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Social isolation, loneliness, and depression affect cognitive function by reducing cerebral blood flow and inhibiting neurovascular coupling, leading to impairments in memory, computation, orientation, and other cognitive dimensions.

    “Social isolation, loneliness, and depression directly affect cardiovascular function, and also affect cognitive function by reducing cerebral blood flow and inhibiting neurovascular coupling, leading to significant impairments in different cognitive dimensions such as memory, computation, orientation, and so on, leading to cognitive impairment [35, 36].”

    From Digital exclusion and cognitive impairment in older people: findings from five longitudinal studies (2024) · cites this paper as [35]

    The Review’s “Pathophysiology of the effects of PSI” section describes reduced cerebral blood flow and inhibited neurovascular coupling as a hypothesized pathway from perceived social isolation to cognitive decline, and explicitly says the model has not been tested. The “Psychological/behavioral effects of PSI” section links loneliness with poorer memory and processing ability in older adults. The paper does not establish this pathway as a direct effect of depression or identify computation and orientation as resulting impairments. Page numbers are not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.89)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bhatti, A. B., & Haq, A. U.
Corresponding author
Bhatti, Adnan Bashir
Venue
Cureus
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-01-24
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
e994-e994
ISSN
2168-8184 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.7759/cureus.994
PMC
PMC5367921
OpenAlex
W2581345675
Cited by
103
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1
FWCI
1.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Cureus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
Keywords
perceived social isolation, loneliness, social isolation, health outcomes, mortality, cardiovascular effects, neuroendocrine system, depression, cognitive decline, sleep disorders, pathophysiological mechanisms, social interaction

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