Social Networks, Aging and Dementia:
An Introduction to the Scientific
Foundations Underlying Network
Science, IUNI, and the Collaborative
Dementia Project
Bernice A. Pescosolido, PhD
Distinguished and Chancellor’s Professor of Sociology
Co-Director, Indiana University Network Science Institute
Director, Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research
Presentation at the 2015 Scientific Symposium on
Network Science and Alzheimer’s Disease
IU Health Neuroscience Center-Goodman Hall Auditorium
March 6, 2015
What is the Fuss About?
A Primer on Networks, Social Networks & Network Science
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Network:
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Classic Sociological Statement (1955):
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“structure of relationships linking social actors” (Marsden
2000:2727)
“the set of actors and the ties among them” (Wasserman
and Faust 1994)
Relationships or ties are the basic building blocks of human
experience, mapping the connections that individuals have to
one another. The structure, function and content of these
relationships among actors has important consequences for
individuals and for whole systems.
Simmel: “Society arises out of the individual and the
individual out of association.”
Two Types of Networks
Socio-centric
(whole, complete, full)
Ego-centric
(local)
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Pescosolido, B.A. 2006. “Sociology of Social Networks.” Pp. 208-217 In Clifton D. Bryant
and Dennis L. Peck (eds), The Handbook of 21st Century Sociology. Sage Publications.
Big Data
Matrix
Some Principles of Network Science
Applied to Individual
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No single “network theory”
Perspective, frame tailored to problem at hand
Network interactions = engine of action
Abstract influences (society, organizations, systems)
understood through set of social interactions
Structure = architecture; content = what flows;
functions = what does/provides
More is not better
In sync or in conflict; positive/negative; helpful/harmful
Dynamic, multi-level
Multi-method
Pescosolido, B.A. 2006. “Sociology of Social Networks.” Pp. 208-217 In Clifton D. Bryant
and Dennis L. Peck (eds), The Handbook of 21st Century Sociology. Sage Publications.
Health & Health Care: Health Services Research
Network – Episode Model
Phase 1
Phase I1
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Citations:
Pescosolido, B.A. 1991. "Illness Careers and Network Ties: A Conceptual Model of Utilization and Compliance." Pp.
161-184 in Gary Albrecht and Judith Levy (eds.), Advances in Medical Sociology, Volume 2. Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI
Press.
Pescosolido, B.A. 1992. "Beyond Rational Choice: The Social Dynamics of How People Seek Help." American Journal of
Sociology 97:1096-1138.
Pescosolido, B.A., C. Brooks-Gardner and K.M. Lubell. 1998. "How People Get Into Mental Health Services: Stories of
Choice, Coercion and ‘Muddling Through’ From ‘First-Timers.'" Social Science and Medicine 46(2):275-286
Pescosolido, B.A. 2006. “Of Pride and Prejudice: The Role of Sociology and Social Networks In Integrating the Health
Sciences.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 47 (September):189-208.
Enter Network Science: Human Genomics, “Place”
& The Era of Transdisciplinarity/Translation
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Metaphorical Blueprints
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What is Translation?
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“Helix to health”
“Neurons to neighborhoods”
“Base pairs to bedside”
“Compound to clinic”
“Cells to society”
Transdisciplinarity: moving scientific insights across
disciplinary silos
Implementation: from science to practice
Dissemination: from science to the public
Come Together: One Approach
Social Embeddedness
Biological Embedding
Biological Embeddedness
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The mechanism linking
social and biological
structures
Theoretic Predictive Plane of Network Effects
on Health, Disease, and Health Care
Citations:
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Pescosolido, B.A. and J.A. Levy. 2002. “The Role of Social Networks in Health, Illness, Disease and Healing: The Accepting Present, The
Forgotten Past, and The Dangerous Potential for a Complacent Future.” Social Networks & Health 8:3-25.
Institute of Medicine. 2006. Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment. Washington, DC, The National Academies Press.
Prototype of the Social Symbiome Framework
for Health, Disease, and Health Care
Network Science – A Variant of
Systems Science: focuses on
complex systems which “are made
up of heterogeneous elements that
interact with one another, have
emergent properties that are not
explained by understanding
individual elements of the system,
persist over time, and adapt to
changing circumstances” (Luke &
Harris, 2007:357).
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Citation: Pescosolido, B., S. Olafsdottir, B. Perry, O. Sporns, E. Meslin, T. Grubesic, J. Martin, L. Koehly, W. Pridemore, A.Vespignani, T.
Foroud, & A. Shekhar. Forthcoming. “The Social Symbiome Framework: Linking Genes-to-Global Cultures in Public Health Using
Network Science.” In Handbook of Applied Systems Science, Z. Neal, ed. New York: Routledge, Inc.
.
Social Networks & Cognitive Decline:
What We Know
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Association: cognitive function & social networks
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Early studies: mortality of caregivers of people with dementia (1993)
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Lancet 2000: Sweden – poor or limited social networks > risk of
dementia 60%
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Fratiglioni L, Wang HX, Ericsson K, et al. The influence of social network on the
occurrence of dementia: a community-based longitudinal study. Lancet
2000;355:1315–19.
Lancet 2006: social network size modified association between
pathology and cognitive function; even at more severe levels of
global disease pathology and with tangles; most pronounced for
semantic memory and working memory; amyloid load did not
modify pathology – network size relation
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Community, Psychology, J. of Gerontology
MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging (1990’s)
Bennett DA, Schneider JA, Tang Y, Arnold SE, Wilson RS. The effect of social
networks on the relation between Alzheimer’s disease pathology and level of
cognitive function in old people: a longitudinal cohort study. Lancet Neurology
2006;5(5):406-12.
What We Don’t Know: A Start in IUNI
What we
don’t know
= social networks
= connectome (brain networks)
= genetics
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Basic Principles
IUNI AZ Project
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Network approach
New collaborations
High potential for
discovery and
intervention
through outside
funding
CTSI
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Networks, Complex
Systems & Health
PDT
Any aspect of health
and health care