Skip to main content

HeLoCog: Age-related Hearing Loss, Cognitive Function, and the Moderating Roles of Social Isolation and Loneliness.

Aim(s):

(i) To characterise patterns of hearing problems and of hearing aid use in NICOLA and to compare these patterns in a qualitative fashion with those found in TILDA. 

(ii) To evaluate the cross-sectional relationship between hearing problems and cognitive functioning, using regression modelling. 

(iii) To evaluate loneliness, social isolation, and social engagement as moderators of the putative relationship between hearing problems and cognitive functioning, using a structural equation modelling approach. 

Health and Loneliness in Older Adults.

The proposed research aims to create empirical evidence regarding the impact of befriending services on health and loneliness, assisting ALONE in developing and refining their mission statement. The research question is: “Do befriending services improve health (measured as health-related quality of life and cognitive function), and do they mitigate the impact of loneliness on health?” A secondary aim is to identify, using exploratory methods, potential mechanisms through which befriending impacts health.

Inter-Regional Synaptic Integration of Sensorimotor Signals within Episodic Memory Networks.

The successful treatment of memory impairments and neurodegenerative disorders critically depends on our understanding of the storage and recollection of memory episodes. Specifically, an understanding of the interaction between amnesic and neurodegenerative syndromes would aid the development of effective treatments. One of the key questions in neuroscience is: how do brain networks encode experience-dependent memory? Answering this question will give us a universal tool to treat multiple brain disorders.

©2025 Dementia Research Network Ireland. Follow us on Twitter: @DRNIre