Reducing Social Isolation Offers Brain Protection in Later Life
New research published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences has discovered a direct causal effect between social isolation and a faster decline in later-life cognitive function.
Social engagement is defined with three components:
One is sociability measured through: partnership/marital status, time spent with family and friends, as well as likely barriers to sociability. The second component is church group membership, measured through self-reported frequency of religious participation. The third component is membership in community organizations, measured through self-reports of how many hours respondents spend volunteering per year