|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
Ten Minutes of Conversation Improves Memory as Much
as Games
A friend may help you stay sharp just as much as a
daily crossword puzzle
 Oct. 29, 2007 – Senior citizens concerned about the
loss of their mental abilities – and that is about everyone – are mostly
aware of abundant "use it or lose it" research results advising them
that to avoid dementia and Alzheimer’s they should exercise their
brains. The suggested games, particularly electronic games and puzzles, often appear
too daunting to many older people. There is new hope, however, from a
University of Michigan study that tested people as old as 96 and found it only takes about 10 minutes of
talking to someone else to improve your memory.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Dementia Destroys Memory of Better Educated at
Faster Rate
Rate of cognitive decline accelerate 4% faster for
each year of education
Oct. 23, 2007
Brain Fitness Program Clinical Trial Attracts 500
Senior Citizens
Program is designed to address the root causes of
age-related cognitive decline
Oct. 18, 2007
Blood Test Coming Very Close to Predicting
Alzheimer’s Risk
Tests reaching above 90 percent in accuracy
Oct. 15, 2007
Unique Community-Wide Approach Confronting Dementia
in Indianapolis
Discovery Network building efficient, effective,
locally sensitive solutions for dementia care
Oct. 11, 2007
Team that Inspired 'Use it or lose it' Confirms
Mental Activity Protects Against Alzheimer's
Frequent brain stimulation by senior citizens reduces
risk of Alzheimer's disease
June 27, 2007
Experimental Drug Ketasyn Improves Memory in
Age-Associated Memory Impairment
Earlier found to improve memory for Alzheimer's
patients
Aug. 29, 2007
Are We Ready for 60 Second Test that Determines if
We Have Alzheimer’s?
Current early diagnosis is based on study of
patient’s behavior
Aug. 22, 2007
Aging Adults Have Choices in Confronting Perceived
Mental Decline
Minor glitches in cognitive system can loom larger
than needed
Aug. 8, 2007
Senior Citizens with Problems Identifying Smells may
begin Cognitive Decline to Alzheimer’s
Other researchers developing medical device to sniff
out olfactory disorders
July 3, 2007
Read the latest news
on
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health |
|
The study of memory improvement tested people as
old as 96. A second test of students found conversation also improves
performance on tests.
"In our study, socializing was just as effective as
more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and
intellectual performance," said Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the U-M
Institute for Social Research (ISR) and a lead author of the study with
ISR psychologist Eugene Burnstein and psychologist Piotr Winkielman from
the University of California, San Diego.
In the article, Ybarra, Burnstein and colleagues
report on findings from two types of studies they conducted on the
relationship between social interactions and mental functioning.
Their research was funded in part by a grant from
the National Science Foundation and will be published in the February
2008 issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
In one study, they examined ISR survey data to see
whether there was a relationship between mental functioning and specific
measures of social interaction. The survey data included information on
a national, stratified area probability sample of 3,610 people between
the ages of 24 and 96.
| |
Listen to Podcast |
|
| |
"Ten Minutes of
Conversation Improves Memory as Much as Games"
 Hear
interview with author
Oscar Ybarra
>
English
>
Spanish |
|
Their mental function was assessed through the
mini-mental exam, a widely used test that measures knowledge of personal
information and current events and that also includes a simple test of
working memory.
Participants' level of social interactions was
assessed by asking how often each week they talked on the phone with
friends, neighbors and relatives, and how often they got together.
After controlling for a wide range of demographic
variables, including age, education, race/ethnicity, gender, marital
status and income, as well as for physical health and depression, the
researchers looked at the connection between frequency of social contact
and level of mental function on the mini-mental exam.
The higher the level of participants' social
interaction, researchers found, the better their cognitive functioning.
This relationship was reliable for all age groups, from the youngest
through the oldest.
Testing Student on Mental Performance
In a second experiment, the researchers conducted a
laboratory test to assess how social interactions and intellectual
exercises affected memory and mental performance.
Participants were 76 college students, ages 18 to
21. Each student was assigned to one of three groups. Those in the
social interaction group engaged in a discussion of a social issue for
10 minutes before taking the tests. Those in the intellectual activities
group completed three tasks before taking the tests. These tasks
included a reading comprehension exercise and a crossword puzzle.
Participants in a control group watched a 10-minute clip of "Seinfeld."
Then all participants completed two different tests
of intellectual performance that measured their mental processing speed
and working memory.
"We found that short-term social interaction
lasting for just 10 minutes boosted participants' intellectual
performance as much as engaging in so-called 'intellectual' activities
for the same amount of time," Ybarra said.
"To our knowledge, this experiment represents the
only causal evidence showing that social interaction directly affects
memory and mental performance in a positive way."
According to Ybarra, the findings suggest that
visiting with a friend or neighbor may be just as helpful in staying
sharp as doing a daily crossword puzzle.
The findings also suggest that social isolation may
have a negative effect on intellectual abilities as well as emotional
well-being. And for a society characterized by increasing levels of
social isolation - a trend sociologist Robert Putnam calls "Bowling
Alone" - the effects could be far-reaching.
University Michigan describes itself…
Established in 1948, the University of Michigan
Institute for Social Research (ISR) is among the world’s oldest academic
survey research organizations, and a world leader in the development and
application of social science methodology. ISR conducts some of the most
widely-cited studies in the nation, including the Reuters/University of
Michigan Surveys of Consumers, the American National Election Studies,
the Monitoring the Future Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the
Health and Retirement Study, and the National Survey of Black Americans.
ISR researchers also collaborate with social scientists in more than 60
nations on the World Values Surveys and other projects, and the
Institute has established formal ties with universities in Poland, China
and South Africa. ISR is also home to the Inter-University Consortium
for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the world’s largest
computerized social science data archive. Visit the ISR web site at
www.isr.umich.edu for more information.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
