In recent years, research has been discovering that social engagement (SE), such as performing purposeful activities in life, meeting with friends and family, attending social gatherings, and engaging in recreational activities, can provide great benefits for the human aging process. More specifically, SE can help protect us against cognitive impairment, such as dementia, as we age. Cognition is our higher functioning in our brains, it gives us the ability to think, comprehend, and problem solve, this ability distinguishes us as humans from the other species of animals. For, most of the population, we age naturally, usually with general side effects of, aches and pains, as well as some vision and hearing impairment, depending a lot on our lifestyles. Unfortunately, for a certain percentage of the older population, as they age they can develop dementia, which is the loss of their cognitive functioning, thinking, remembering, and reasoning, to such an extent that it interferes, with a person’s daily life and activities, dementia is not a part of the natural human aging process.
As, mentioned researchers are now discovering ways in which SE can help protect against cognitive decline, by looking into regions of interest (ROI), in our brains, such as grey matter (GM), microstructural integrity, which may be relevant to the role of how social cognition works in the brain processes of an older population. The grey matter in our brains, serves to process information, it is made up of tissue that stimulates the sensory organs, such as motor control in the central nervous system, as well as many ROI’s throughout the brain, that researchers have determined to be contributors to the preservation of structural integrity in the brain, many of which are affected in dementia. Many of these ROI’s, are considered part of the social brain, they are comprised of social perception, emotion, motivation, behavioral adaptations, and social attributions. These ROI’s are mostly located in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and the premotor cortex, there are many other ROI’s, that are involved in this complex process, but for the purposes of this paper, it is of most importance, that the focus is on the effects as well as the understanding of these ROI’s functions as they pertain to cognitive impairment (Felix, Rosano, Zhu, Flatt, & Rosso, 2020).
In this article, researchers focused on, if SE would protect against cognitive decline in older adults, by accessing the relationship between SE and GM microstructural integrity in the ROI relevant for social cognition. In order for researchers to test their theory, they recruited 293 participants between the ages of 70 to 85 years, who had their SE recorded once a week, inside and outside of their home for the duration of the study, also they underwent three Diffusion Tensor Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests (DTI-MRI). The SE index component included: married, not living alone, social engagement in board games, movies, travel, church, visiting relatives and friends, work, and volunteering. It has been suggested through research, that the items included in the SE index, stimulates the functions of the social brain, such as the GM and the ROI. In order to test their findings, researchers of this study subjected the participants to three sessions of DTI-MRI’s, which is a non-invasive neuronal imaging technique. DTI-MRI is used to quantify the average rate of diffusion of molecular water that is associated with the function of GM. The lower value for diffusion is indictive of greater microstructural integrity, which is a good marker for the early onset of dementia (Felix et al., 2020).
The results of this study, suggests that the cohort of older adults living in the community, have a greater SE, as measured by the SE index, was associated with greater GM microstructural integrity, as indicated by lower GM, which is pertinent in social cognition. Also, it was found through DTI-MRI’s, that older adults with a greater social support system, to be associated with greater cortical thickness, this association of specific regions gives credence to a socially integrated lifestyle in late-life, contributed to the protection against cognitive decline, such as dementia. Therefore, SE may be a useful preventive mechanism against the loss of GM integrity in older adults. This study prompts future research, in the area of cognitive decline, reason is that there are several possible pathways through which, SE may have down stream effects on the brain microstructural characteristics, which include; improved blood pressure response to stress, low stress hormonal levels, increased participation in exercise, and improved immune system function, this may be a way forward for greater understanding of mechanisms associated with cognitive decline in older adults (Felix et al., 2020).
Reference:
Cynthia Felix, MD, MPH, Caterina Rosano, MD, MPH, Xiaonan Zhu, PhD, Jason D Flatt, PhD, MPH, Andrea L Rosso, PhD, MPH, Greater Social Engagement and Greater Gray Matter Microstructural Integrity in Brain Regions Relevant to Dementia, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Volume 76, Issue 6, July 2021, Pages 1027–1035, https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa173.