Being Socially Active Linked to Lower Dementia Risk

People who are socially engaged are exercising cognitive skills such as memory and language, which may help them to develop cognitive reserve - while it may not stop their brains from changing, cognitive reserve could help people cope better with the effects of age and delay any symptoms of dementia," said senior author. 

The research,  used data from the "Whitehall II" study, tracking 10,228 participants who had been asked on six occasions between 1985 and 2013 about their frequency of social contact with friends and relatives. 

The same participants also completed cognitive testing from 1997 onwards, and researchers referred to the study participants' electronic health records up until 2017 to see if they were ever diagnosed with dementia. 

For the analysis, the research team focused on the relationships between social contact at age 50, 60 and 70, and subsequent incidence of dementia, and whether social contact was linked to cognitive decline, after accounting for other factors such as education, employment, marital status and socioeconomic status. 

The researchers found that increased social contact at age 60 is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing dementia later in life. 

The analysis showed that someone who saw friends almost daily at age 60 was 12 per cent less likely to develop dementia than someone who only saw one or two friends every few months. 

They found similarly strong associations between social contact at ages 50 and 70 and subsequent dementia. 

"Spending more time with friends could also be good for mental well-being, and may correlate with being physically active, both of which can also reduce the risk of developing dementia," he added.

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Sleep spindles may help in improving memory retention

Want to strengthen your cognitive skills regarding any relevant information? Sleep spindles can help you in retaining new memories related to any newly learned information when you sleep.

Sleep spindles are half-second to two-second bursts of oscillatory brain activity -- occurring during non-rapid eye movement sleep stages two and three -- and measured in the 10 to 16 Hertz range on an electroencephalogram (EEG). 

Previous researches had shown that the number of spindles during the night could predict a person's memory the next day.

"While it has been shown previously that targeted memory reactivation can boost memory consolidation during sleep, we now show that sleep spindles might represent the key underlying mechanism," said a researcher.

"Thus, direct induction of sleep spindles -- for example, via transcranial electrical stimulation -- perhaps combined with targeted memory reactivation, may enable us to further improve memory performance while we sleep."

For the study, the researchers devised an experiment in which people learned to associate particular adjectives with particular objects and scenes.

Some study participants then took a 90-minute nap after their study session, whereas others stayed awake.

While people napped, the researchers cued those associative memories and unfamiliar adjectives.
The results showed that the memory cues led to an increase in sleep spindles.

Interestingly, the EEG patterns during spindles enabled the researchers to discern what types of memories -- objects or scenes -- were being processed.

"Our data suggest that spindles facilitate processing of relevant memory features during sleep and that this process boosts memory consolidation," he said.

Also, the new understanding of the way the brain normally processes and strengthens memories during sleep may help to explain how that process may go wrong in people with learning difficulties, the researchers added.

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Aerobic exercises may boost cognitive skills, delay Alzheimer’s

Engaging in aerobic exercises such as spinning, running, walking may be three times more effective than other types of exercise in delaying the risk of Alzheimer’s disease as well as improving cognitive function in older adults, a study has found.

Alzheimer’s disease — the most common form of dementia — is a brain disorder that destroys memory and thinking skills over time in older adults. There is presently no cure for the condition, though treatment options are available.

The findings, showed that older adults at risk for or who have Alzheimer’s, who did aerobic exercise by itself experienced a three times greater level of improvement in their ability to think and make decisions than those who participated in combined aerobic training and strength training exercises.
Older adults in the non-exercise group faced declines in cognitive function.

However, those who exercised showed small improvements in cognitive function no matter what type of exercise they did, the researchers said.

Geriatrics experts have for long suggested that exercising can improve brain health in older adults.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that older adults perform 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise (such as brisk walking), 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic training, or a combination of the two types.

The WHO also suggested older adults perform muscle-strengthening exercises on at least two or more days a week.

For the study,  the team reviewed 19 studies involving 1,145 older adults that examined the effect of an exercise training programme on cognitive function in the elderly at risk for or diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Of the participants, in their mid-to late 70s, 65 per cent were at risk for Alzheimer’s and 35 per cent had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

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