Keeping Friends and Family Close Protects Against Effects of Alzheimer’s

A team of researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago recently published a study in Lancet Neurology suggesting that a large social network may act as a protective barrier to the cognitive defects of Alzheimer’s disease. The sample consisted of 89 elderly people without known dementia who were participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project. While enrolled, participants were given 21 cognitive performance tests per year and regular clinical evaluations. Data was also collected from their brains post-mortem. The size of the social network was determined by the number of children, relatives, and friends who visited the participants at least once a month. The researchers found that the same amount of pathology, as demonstrated by the typical tangles and plaques in the brain, had less of a cognitive effect on those participants with a large social network, even after controlling for other factors. This study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474442206704173/abstract