Frequent social engagement may delay dementia onset

Visiting friends, visiting and going to church, can keep your brain healthy, according to research at Rush.

The study, posted online in Alzheimer & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, Show that frequent social activity can help prevent or postpone dementia in old age.

This study is a follow -up of earlier articles from our group that show that social activity is related to less cognitive decline in older adults.

In this study we show that social activity is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia and mild cognitive impairment, and that the least socially active older adults developed on average five years before the most socially active dementia. “

Bryan James, PhD, associate professor of Internal Medicine at Rush

Social activity can strengthen neural circuits in the brain, making them more resistant to the structure of pathology that occurs with age. Social behavior activates the same areas of the brain that are involved in thinking and memory.

Authors note that the findings emphasize the value of social activity as a possible intervention at community level for reducing dementia.

The findings suggest that more frequent social activity points to a reduction of 38% in dementia risk and a reduction of 21% in mild cognitive disorders risk, compared to the least socially active.

In addition, a delay of five years at the start of dementia is estimated and yields an additional three years of years of life and an economic advantage of reducing dementia costs by 40% in the next 30 years, possibly $ 500,000 in lifelong health care savings for each Person who would eventually develop dementia.

The study included 1,923 dementia-free older adults with an average age of approximately 80 participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a continuous longitudinal study of common chronic aging.

A total of 545 participants developed dementia and 695 developed mild cognitive disorders. They underwent annual evaluations that include medical history and neuropsychological tests.

Social activity was measured on the basis of a questionnaire that participants asked if, and how often, in the previous year they had taken with six common social activities that social interaction entailed – for example whether they went to restaurants or sporting events, bingo, names Day or night journeys, volunteer work or visited relatives or friends.

Cognitive function was assessed with the help of 21 tests for different types of memory, as well as perceptual speed and visuospatial power.

At the start of the study, all participants were free of signs of cognitive impairment. For an average of five years, however, those who were socially active showed reduced dementia rates. Other variables that may have explained the increase in cognitive decline – such as age, exercise and health – were all adapted in the analysis.

Why social activity plays a role in the development of cognitive problems is not clear. One possibility is that “Social activities challenges older adults to participate in complex interpersonal exchanges, which can promote or maintain efficient neural networks in a case of” use or losses, “James said.

Future research is needed to determine whether interventions aimed at increasing social activities in late life can play a role in postponing or preventing cognitive decline, said James.

Other researchers involved in the research were Yi Chen, PhD, Francine Grodstein, SCD, Ana Capuano, PhD, Tianhao Wang, PhD and David Bennett, MD.