The Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health did research on a number of elderly.
A total of six years was spent on the research done on 16,638 Americans over 50 years old. This research was called The Health and Retirement Study. In the beginning, the memory scores of both the subjects with high and low social interaction were the same. However, this changed after a few years. Those with fewer friends had memory degradation twice than those who had more friends.
The authors wrote in the American Journal of Health that the result of the study implies that an increase in socialization may actually help prevent memory decline in Americans.
It is unclear how social isolation and disconnection from others could increase memory loss, more so, risks of Alzheimer's disease. However, it is suggested that seniors should start participating in social activities and increase the number of people in their social networks.
Gaining more friends is not only easy but it may also be good for your mood and mental health.
