Socialising is an activity where members of a community interact with the aim to convey information. Besides being able to establish friendship, this activity is also believed to help maintain health, especially cognitive functions. In several previous studies, it was found that doing social activities can help reduce the risk of dementia (declining memory).

The statement is further supported by the results of a recent study conducted by University College London. The researchers found that high amount of social activities can help reduce the risk of dementia in an older person. The social activity can be in the form of socialising with friends or relatives. Specifically, someone who socialises with friends almost every day at age 60 has a 12% lower risk of dementia in the future compared to those who only socialise once or twice within a few months.

In their study, the researchers analysed the data on the results of a prospective cohort study named Whitehall II. In the data, there were 10,308 participants with an age range of 35-55 years old that took part in the study, which begin in 1985-1988. The data was collected until 2017, and 10,288 participants have reported their social activities 6 times through a questionnaire.

To see the status of cognitive function, the researchers conducted tests of verbal memory, fluency in speaking, and their reasoning power five times during the period. Clinical data is also collected to determine the presence or absence of dementia in each participant.

The researchers explained that people who like to socialise indirectly practice their cognitive skills, such as memory and fluency in speaking. This is believed to help in developing their cognitive reserve. Cognitive reserve is the flexibility and capacity of the brain to use new 'resources' to overcome existing problems.

Text by Anggie Triana
Stock photos from Pixabay

Source(s):

• Sommerlad, A., Sabia, S., Manoux, U.S., et all (2019). Association of social contacts with dementia and cognition: 28-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study. PLOS Medicine, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002862.
• Medical News Today - Social Activity in your 60s may lower dementia risk by 12% (2019). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326064.php, 21 August 2019.