A strong social network keeps you mentally sharp as you get older

By April Clarkson, June 11th, 2013 | Health | 0 Comments

The MacArthur Studies of Successful Ageing, carried out by scientists in California, reveals the impact that social life has on mental function. Nearly 1,200 men and women in the 70s were studied over 7.5 years and tested on their language, memory, reasoning and spatial ability skills.

Those who had plenty of emotional support on terms of friends and social life performed the best. Surprisingly, single people did better than those who were married. In other research, married people often seem to have better health than the unmarried. In this study, the researchers think that the presence of a spouse was more often linked to a care burden and this may have had a negative effect on mental function.

What’s more, those who reported conflict and demands from their friends and family were likely to be mentally sharper. Evidently a good argument keeps the brain ticking over! So if you’re feeling isolated, get socialising - for the sake of your brain.