Communication, Connection, Contribution to the Community, & Ye Olde Cognitive Skills

Social Activity and Stress Reduction.

... Two of the "Seven Keys" to aging successfully and keeping a healthy, fit brain. These two keys also can be two of the most challenging aspects as we grow older, when our links to community may fade, and communication may become a struggle because of hearing problems or cognitive declines.

The process of aging can be isolating. The family has left home and likely moved away. Illness may limit mobility and activity. Loved ones, lifelong friends and neighbors have passed away. It's all too easy to gradually retreat into a sort of self imposed solitary confinement - isolation that becomes a spiral of depression, stress, and diminishing mental function.

Our ability to communicate with others is crucial for mental health; when it's taken away through the process of disease or isolation, we lose an important aspect of our ability to interact with and act upon our world. That, in turn, which in turn, increases stress levels, causes or deepens depression, and saps the ability and desire to be productive, and the quality of life begins to decline. Even worse, isolation increases the risks of cognitive declines, the stress of loneliness is especially damaging to the brain - prolonged stress can kill off brain cells even in the young.

It may be tempting to try and relieve stress by withdrawing from the world around us - a tactic that might relieve the immediate anxiety, but which in the long run, may reduce our cognitive health even more than the original stress.

The Science of Social Activity

There's mounting evidence that social activity itself contributes to maintaining cognitive health. In one study, pairs of male twins were evaluated over 28 years according to their levels of activity, cognitive abilities, and evidence of dementia. The more mentally active the men were, the less likely they were to develop dementia, and when it did develop, it showed up later in their life, rather than earlier.

The study didn't stop there, though... the researchers looked even more deeply at the types of mental activity the men engaged in. Those who were active with family, friends, group and club activities did better than those whose mental activities were more passive (reading, studying, etc).

There seems to be something unique in social activity that gives an added protective boost to the brain, and it does make sense. Interaction with others stimulates our brains, engaging communication and emotional centers, mirror neurons, and countless other areas of mental function. Equally important, human contact helps reduce the damages stress.

The good news, of course, is that it's relatively easy to stay socially engaged, and to help keep others around us socially engaged and communicating, too. Maybe one of the best gifts we can give ourselves and those around us is to stay engaged with them. It's good for us, it's good for them, it reduces stress, helps protect our brains against declines, gives us a purpose, gives back to the community, reduces stress...

I'd like to see this sort of knowledge as the dawn of a new approach, one that sees visits to retirement homes and shut-ins as more than just a duty, more than just "cheering up" elders. With the scientific evidence for the benefits of social and community engagement, I'd like to see our culture begin to see just how very much we can all gain through staying connected, expanding our definitions of communication to include things like art, and using that new understanding to contribute and build a stronger community even as we're building up our own cognitive health.

Communication, Social Connection, and Contribution to Community: Part of Alzheimer's prevention, treatment, and just general good living. If you'd like a deeper look at that twin study mentioned earlier, here's a link to an article on the topic: Yale Medical Group: Men's Alzheimer's Risk Lowered with Active Lifestyle