Brain: having a good listener prevents cognitive decline

Social interactions in adulthood are important to avoid cognitive decline despite brain aging or neuropathological changes. The best thing is to have a good listener, a trustworthy person who is able to listen carefully. According to a study published on August 16 in the JAMA Network Openthis is associated with greater cognitive resilience, that is, the ability of the brain to function better than one would expect given physical aging or disease-related brain changes.

A gap between biological age and cognitive age

The researchers point in particular to Alzheimer’s, a progressive disease that mainly affects people over the age of 65 and interferes with memory, language, decision-making and the ability to live independently. They add that while the disease generally affects an older population, the results of this study indicate that people under the age of 65 would benefit from strengthening their social support. For each unit of decline in brain volume, individuals in their 40s and 50s with low listener availability have a cognitive age, different from biological age, four years older than those with high listener availability. .

“Those four years can be incredibly preciousunderlines Joel Salinas, principal author of the study and researcher with the department of neurology of the university of New York. Too often we think about how to protect our brain health when we are much older, having already wasted so much time decades ago developing and maintaining brain-healthy habits. But today, right now, you may wonder if you really have someone available to listen to you in a positive way, and ask the same of your loved ones. Taking this simple action sets the process in motion so that you ultimately have a better chance of long-term brain health and the best quality of life you can ever have..”

Better cognitive function

For their study, the scientists followed a cohort of 2,171 participants with an average age of 63. They looked at the availability of supportive social interactions, including listening, good advice, love and affection, sufficient contact with people they are close to, and emotional support. Their cognitive resilience was measured as the relative effect of total brain volume on global cognition, using MRI and neuropsychological assessments. Lower brain volumes tend to be associated with lower cognitive function, and in this study, researchers examined the modifying effect of individual forms of social support on the relationship between brain volume and cognitive performance.

The results showed that the cognitive function of individuals with greater availability of a specific form of social support is higher relative to their total brain volume. The key form of social support identified is listener availability and is strongly associated with greater cognitive resilience. The researchers note that further study of individual social interactions can improve understanding of the biological mechanisms that link psychosocial factors to brain health.

Add social support to social history questions

With these findings, the researchers recommend that physicians consider adding this question to the standard social history portion of a patient interview. This would involve asking patients if they have someone they can count on to listen to them when they need to talk. “Loneliness is one of many symptoms of depression and has other health implications for patientsinsists Joel Salinas. These kinds of questions about a person’s social relationships and feelings of loneliness can tell you a lot about a patient’s larger social situation, their future health, and how they are really doing outside of the clinic..”