The gals who meet for coffee may have a leg up on maintaining their memory. (Joshua Lott for The New York Times)An active social life appears to delay memory loss as we age, a new study shows.
The finding, which appears in the July issue of The American Journal of Public Health, suggests that strong social ties, through friends, family and community groups, can preserve our brain health as we age and that social isolation may be an important risk factor for cognitive decline in the elderly.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health used data gathered from 1998 to 2004 from the Health and Retirement Study, a large, nationally representative population of American adults ages 50 and older. Participants took memory tests at two-year intervals during the study period. Testers read a list of 10 common nouns to survey respondents, who were then asked to recall as many words as possible immediately and again after a five-minute delay. The researchers also measured social integration based on marital status, volunteer activities, and contact with parents, children and neighbors.
The results showed that individuals who in their 50s and 60s engaged in a lot of social activity also had the slowest rate of memory decline. In fact, compared to those who were the least socially active, study subjects who had the highest social integration scores had less than half the rate of memory loss. The researchers controlled for variables like age, gender, race and health status. Those who had the fewest years of formal education appeared to have the most to gain from an active social life as they aged. The study showed that the protective effect of social integration was greatest among individuals with fewer than 12 years of education.
“The working hypothesis is that social engagement is what makes you mentally engaged,” said Lisa F. Berkman, the study’s senior author and director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. “You can’t sit and withdraw if you’re constantly talking and working on things and figuring out problems in your daily life. It’s not just completing a crossword puzzle, it’s living your life.”
The data are particularly important for those caring for aging family members. Simply visiting and giving support to an older family member does not make them socially engaged. “A lot of people when they think about the elderly focus on social support — things like what can I do for an older mother,” Dr. Berkman said. “But having someone to count on is not what we’re measuring. It’s not about support, it’s about being completely engaged and participating in our society.”
What was notable about the study is that participants didn’t have to be married or surrounded by extensive family to receive the protective effect of social engagement. “There are lots of relationships that are substitutable,” Dr. Berkman said. “You don’t have to have friends if you have family. If you don’t have family but you have friends, that’s good. If you volunteer in civic organizations, that can substitute. People don’t have to have all of these things. They just have to have some breadth and diversity in the kinds of networks and ties they have in a community.”
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From 1 to 25 of 57 Comments
I always assumed I just hadn’t noticed my grandma’s memory loss until my grandpa died because it was hidden in the general hustle and bustle of conversation, but I also wondered if the sudden lack of constant interaction was part of the problem too. She has lived alone in Florida for over 10 years, and won’t move up north to be with any of the family because of the weather. Her short-term memory is really poor. It sometimes seems as though she’s had the same thought for so long with no outlet that when she does talk to someone, she’s not sure when she’s already said something so we’ll have the same short conversation a few times in a single call. She’s made a few friends, but her close friends are no longer alive and she doesn’t have enough contact with the outside world. Any word on whether the contact has to be in person, and how much is necessary to make a difference? My sister calls her daily, but I’m not sure if that is enough of a substitute for friends.
— JesseI see this correlation talked about a lot.
I wonder if they take into account the fact that people become more isolated and withdrawn as they lose their memories.
they avoid embarassing situations where their loss of memory will be noticed by their friends.
I’ve seen articles about how playing bridge keeps the mind sharp well into old age. Well, of course old people who play bridge will have sharp minds. The ones who lose their minds stop playing bridge.
I believe they may be mixing up cause and effect here.
— Charles HartshorneCharles-
The study was done over a period of six years, regularly testing memory throughout that time period. According to study researchers, “People who were more socially engaged at the start of the study had a slower decline in memory, compared with people who were more socially isolated.” That’s clearly a causal relationship, not just a case of people retreating from social circles to avoid embarrassment.
Having seen my grandmother lose her close friends in recent years, and struggle to maintain the active social life that has been such a vital part of her life, I can understand how lack of friends and lack of engaging conversation could start to negatively effect the mind.
— CarlyI have really noticed a change in my 64 year old mother since she was laid off from her part-time job at a church several years ago. She never found another job (mild health reasons and lack of confidence she could find a part-time job that didn’t involve a lot of standing up) and she is becoming like a different person, and not in a good way. She is forgetful, lacking in confidence, and she used to handle cooking and baking with no problem but now she asks direction on every little thing. It’s so frustrating because she was always shy all her life and really relied on superficial social contacts at her various jobs to tide her along during her life. Now she’s alone all day, too shy to make new friends (and she’s never been a “joiner,” so forget trying to get her involved in senior citizen groups - she WILL NOT do it). But she really NEEDS daily contact with other people, and without a job, she has no reason to leave the house. I just don’t know what to do for her.
— JenThere’s no doubt that depression factors in as well. Those who are isolated are more prone to depression, and depression in and of itself can wreak havoc on memory.
— CFor those who are socially active, memory loss is not an issue. For individuals diagnosed with any dementia, the illness is the reason for the dimishing social life. It becomes a catch 22, where the disease is the underlying reason for an individual’s withdrawal from social activities and as the individual withdrawals from social interaction, the disease progresses more quickly.
I have watched my mother who had an extremely active life. Family, friends and volunteered at our local Church, become more isolated due to the progression of the disease, Dementia. The onset of the early symptoms until the advance stages has been 8 years as suggested in many of the studies conducted on dementia. I am in agreement with Charles, with the onset of any forms of dementia, the individual becomes more withdrawn because they realise that their memory is deteriorating.
— EAs with so many things health-related, yes, they may be mixing cause and effect. But then it is also easy to confuse being engaged with the world and the world being engaged with you.
— B.This past week I witnessed a dramatic improvement in effective socialization and memory function in a dear family friend nearing 90 with mild to moderate Altzheimers after I took him to get the Lyric hearing device.
— MARK KLEIN, M.D.This is a little scary for shy introverts like me.
— ALNI believe isolation at any age is detrimental to mental faculties. As body and mind weaken as we grow older the effect of isolation becomes more pronounced. Family and friends play a very important role in the mental health and so the memory goes with it. When elderly have problems with health and all other types of stressful situation, memory certainly suffers. As the article says social involvement is a major remedy for retaining memory.
— Mukul KanthariaMy mother in law is nearing 88. She has almost no memory left and cannot remember her own brothers’ names. No one wants to visit her because she cannot carry on a simple conversation. Her age, her mental status and her disability have confined her to a state of loneliness and boredom. The one bright spot in her day is the love of her pet Persian cat. She remembers her name only.
— MargaretI haven’t pulled the study yet, but it sounds more like depression. Poster #3 may know, Carly?
— r. nahouraiiI am growing weary of these studies and how valid the results are. There is a huge bias in our society that being social is better than being a loner. I have seen children pushed into an unhappy social life. What about introspection and studying - are they no longer positive?
Over the years I have moved around a lot to different countries and parts of this country but as people age it is increasing difficult to make new meaningful relationship. Like most young people I choose to be social online rather than stand around mouthing platitudes and polite but extremely dull ’social chat’. I have tried social groups like that and frankly I would rather be home with a good book.
Also the statement that playing Bridge will keep your mind sharp is nonsense. I was bored by Bridge in college and I am now.
Americans are constantly coming up with new schemes to make us all ‘normal’ and too much alike. How completely boring. Socializing isn’t the the answer for everyone. What about all the very social people who develop dementia and Alzheimers. Nobel Prize winners develop the same. I think going for a nice long hike alone in nature will do just as much for you. Introverts Unite.
Barbara
— Barbara CrowleyI would agree with both Charles and Carly, to a certain extent.
I have observed people whose pride is great and are aware they are losing faculties withdraw from the social scene. The result is that when they are not involved in anything there is not much worth remembering.
I have also observed gregarious people who were homebound due to frailties of age become progressively less engaged because of limited connection to the outside world.
It is sad that many older people resist going to a retirement community setting, and make life crazy for their adult children. They just do not realize there can be a rewarding and engaging life for them there, that is free from many of the tedious responsibilities of life.
— SusanI wonder if they controlled for depression in this study. Depression decreases social engagement and it also negatively affects memory performance. This finding would be more interesting if they knoew that social engagment affects memory independently of depression.
On a personal note I found this very reassuring, though, since I have a mother who is very socially engaged and in her 60s and I do worry about her memory declining at times.
— nelieCharles (above comment) has a very good point. By the time this study (and many other studies on various health topics) has reached the reading public through the press, any cautions about the inability of correlative studies to show cause and effect are long gone.
The title and the first two paragraphs of this study state definitely that the study shows that socializing delays memory problems! This is not the case.
In this case, unfortunately, the authors’ comments also suggest a cause and effect interpretation to the readers. Dr. Berkman’s opinion may be that social contact increases memory retention (and this opinion might be supported by other research not reported here) but active socializing as a cause of memory retention is not demonstrated by this study as reported in this article.
This study, even if it is impeccable methodologically, can show only a correlation between sociability and memory retention. Maybe being sociable causes better memory retention, maybe it doesn’t. Or maybe the two simply vary together, or maybe memory retention influences sociability, as Charles suggests. This study does not tell us.
We are so bombarded with news reports of studies about health showing “correlations” and “risk factors” that it is extremely important for responsible authors of health-related news articles to be keep reminding us that neither correlations nor risk factors are evidence of cause and effect.
Study authors have a motivation to overinterpret their results to bolster their theory and to attract further funding. News writers want to write exciting stories. The combination means that we get studies presented to us as fact that are really unproven - and may even, in the long run, turn out to be incorrect.
We can’t and should not take studies of this nature as a basis for changing public policy or personal behavior. The overinterpretation of preliminary research does us individually and as a nation a lot of harm and causes us a lot of unneeded angst. Think of how many of these studies we read about in a year, many of them contradicting each other!
In this case, it seems to me that we can already think of many good reasons why older people and those around them should do all they can to keep good social connections, but I can’t see that this study as it is reported here adds anything yet to our useful knowledge.
— alisonimho (my opinion) reading, learning and doing new things, brain exercises prevents memory loss more than socialization.
— nananaThis can be a difficult topic, especially when we reference personal experience with aging parents or relatives. Technically, Charles is correct — despite the fact that the study followed the same people over six years, it only shows a correlation between socialization and memory skill. To really nail causation, there would (minimally) have to be a study with random assignment to two groups: one in which the participants socialized, and a control group that did not, with memory measures carefully followed. For obvious ethical and even practical reasons, this sort of experiment simply can’t be done.
Also– isn’t it strange that the “protective effect of social integration was greatest among individuals with fewer than 12 years of education”. Could it be that more educated people turn to other resources - such as intellectual or cultural engagements - which play a similar role with respect to memory and perhaps other cognitive abilities, for them?
— BillI’m a Certified Activity Director in an Assisted Living Community and I can tell you first hand that the more social residents are the slower their memory loss is.
Time and time again, my staff and I have watched new residents with obvious memory dysfunction begin to regain lost ground as they become more socially engaged with the community. It is important though to note that while low key social interactions are important, it is the resident who also participates in the cognitive and physical activities as well that life the fullest lives.
As the article points out, it is important that we provide not only social stimulation that meets immediate needs. It’s time that we got as serious about taking care of the developmental needs of our elders as we do with children. Adult Day programs, Assisted Living Communities for all socio economic levels and well trained private duty aides are imperative to providing respectful, healthy aging opportunities for us all.
— KimHm. I wonder if online interaction (like this blog) has brain-enhancing benefits, or if face-to-face contact is what’s most beneficial. Of course, it’s hard to get any exercise (which is also supposed to keep our brains working better) when one is sitting in front of a computer monitor. . . . Just an idle rumination.
— HeronDr. Mark Klein did his friend an enormous favor by taking him to get hearing aids. Hearing loss is an often ignored factor in the ability of older people to socialize. People who are hard of hearing like me know listening is physically exhausting unless you wear hearing aids, use assistive listening devices like an FM system and take advantage of captioing on TV, at the movies and theater. Medicare should pay for hearing aids and doctors, family, friends and Senior Center personnel should encourage older people to have their hearing tested and avail themselves of the technology that allows them to stay connected.
— RuthAs I age, I exercise religiously and watch my diet and health more and more carefully. It seems that I need to add social interaction to my anti-aging programs.
— TerryYes, Barbara, (#13), I agree that our culture has a bias in favor of promoting sociability. American culture has long considered being a gregarious, sociable person synonymous with being a healthy one.
As I age, I am moving into a less sociable but more reflective state. This is very satisfying as I’ve focused on my intellectual interests and hobbies,things which bring great joy to my life.
While I still enjoy being around family and friends, I only make effort to maintain those relationships that are most important to me.
I spent most of my career working with older people in a variety of settings. While older folks who are not as engaged socially may seem to be objects of pity by friends, family and society at large, far more sad to me are those who are afraid to be alone and introspective.
I would venture that some of what we are here to learn in our lives is how to experience life fully, whether we are engaged socially or are engaged in solitary pursuits.
— Joan BartosSocialization is absolutely the key to staying alert, up-to-date with novelty, challenged to consider fresh viewpoints and changing conventions, and attuned to our place in the larger scope of things.
Humans are herd animals. Period.
I understand that many people want to be alone; that’s fine. But I think this is limiting.
Aloneness does not provide the stimulation of intimately jousting with ideas, of being teased for your silly habits, of having to pay attention to what others are trying to express and considering someone else’s views … in short, the joy of being jostled, physically and emotionally.
I love people and cannot understand why anyone would simply tune out, over and over again, in favor of an inanimate companion, such as a book.
That may be a comfort, since a book won’t talk back — at leaat not yet — but it can’t compare to personal interaction to get the juices flowing.
As the study’s author says: “You can’t sit and withdraw if you’re constantly talking and working on things and figuring out problems in your daily life. It’s not just completing a crossword puzzle, it’s living your life.” Amen!
— Beth@Jen (#4): Could you find a volunteer opportunity your mother would enjoy? Maybe an organization that would match her up with a kid who needs some extra attention from a grownup would be her cup of tea. Big Brothers/Big Sisters comes to mind.
Do a Google search for “volunteer opportunities,” and you’ll see websites that’ll help you find ways for your mother to get out of the house and feel appreciated by non-family members again.
— Heron