Social isolation is directly linked with changes in the brain structures associated with memory, making it a clear risk factor for dementia, scientists have found. The study, published in the journal ‘Neurology’, has found that socially isolated individuals have lower gray matter volumes of brain regions involved in memory and learning and have a 26% increased likelihood of developing dementia. With the growing prevalence of social isolation and loneliness over the past decades, this has been a serious yet underappreciated public health problem. This will have implications for social relationship interventions and care, particularly in the older population.