Lack of social interaction in the elderly is associated with reduced Brain size

Tech 2023-07-14 14:13:36 Source: Network

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 14 (Xinhua News Agency) - Previous studies have shown that lack of social interaction will make the brain lack of stimulation from dialogue, thus increasing the risk of dementia. According to a new Japanese study, lack of social interaction in the elderly is also associated with reduced Brain size

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 14 (Xinhua News Agency) - Previous studies have shown that lack of social interaction will make the brain lack of stimulation from dialogue, thus increasing the risk of dementia. According to a new Japanese study, lack of social interaction in the elderly is also associated with reduced Brain size. Based on this, researchers believe that loneliness may be associated with the accelerated reduction of brain capacity of the elderly, thus increasing the risk of dementia. It is suggested that more support should be provided to help the elderly increase social interaction.

A research report published in the online edition of the American journal Neurology on the 12th showed that to understand the impact of loneliness on the brain of elderly people, Japanese researchers surveyed nearly 9000 elderly people aged 65 and above. These individuals had an average age of 73 years and did not have dementia at the time of participating in the study.

On June 26th, pedestrians walked through the streets of Ginza, Tokyo, Japan under sunshades. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu

Researchers asked them about their communication with non living relatives and friends, such as meeting and phone frequency, and also scanned their brains with magnetic resonance imaging devices.

The analysis results show that there is a correlation between the lack of social interaction and the reduction of Brain size: the total Brain size of people in the least social group is significantly lower than that of people in the most social group. This association still exists even after taking into account the factors that may affect the brain, such as weight, smoking and drinking, and diabetes.

In addition, the brain regions such as the Hippocampus and Amygdala of people who lack social interaction are also smaller. These regions play an important role in memory and are associated with dementia.

Research also shows that elderly people who lack social interaction have more white matter lesions compared to those who are frequently exposed to society. On average, the location of white matter lesions in their brains accounts for 0.3% of intracranial volume, while in the socially active group, this figure is 0.26%.

This is November 15, 2022. Pedestrians walk through Tokyo Station in Japan. Xinhua Social Development (Photo by Sun Jialin)

Researchers say that people's brains will gradually shrink during aging, and lack of social interaction may accelerate Cerebral atrophy. In addition, depression and unhealthy lifestyles can also damage brain health.

Ergong Lizhi, one of the main authors of the study and a professor at the Medical Research Institute of Kyushu University, said that although this study could not confirm that the lack of social interaction directly led to Cerebral atrophy, some studies showed that more exposure to society for the elderly might help prevent or even reverse the decrease of Brain size, and improve their thinking and memory abilities.

Ergong Lizhi said: "For the elderly, the lack of social interaction is a growing problem. These research results show that providing support for the elderly to help them establish and maintain contact with others may be conducive to preventing Cerebral atrophy and dementia." (Jing Jing)

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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