Highly social individuals may have decreased risk of dementia.The Time (5/3, Szalavitz) "Healthland" blog reports that the most "social seniors had a 70% reduction in the rate of cognitive decline, compared with their least social peers," according to a study in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. Researchers followed "1,138 people" (average age 79) without dementia for five years. They found that each "one-point increase on the social activity score was linked to a 47% drop in the rate of decline in cognitive function." An earlier study of the "same group of elderly participants by the same researchers also found that each one-point increase in sociability reduced the risk of becoming physically disabled by 43%."
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