Your sense of self is deeply tied to your memory – here’s how

Shane Rogers, Edith Cowan University

You might say you have a “bad memory” because you don’t remember what cake you had at your last birthday party or the plot of a movie you watched last month. On the other hand, you might precisely recall the surface temperature of the Sun any time when asked.

So, is your memory bad, or just fine? Memory is at the very heart of who we are, but it’s surprisingly complex once we start looking at how it all fits together.

In fact, there’s more than one type of memory, and this determines how we recall certain facts about the world and ourselves.

How do we classify memory?

Cognitive psychologists distinguish between declarative memory and non-declarative memory. Non-declarative memories are expressed without conscious recollection, such as skills and habits like typing on a keyboard or riding a bike.

But memories you’re consciously aware of are declarative – you know your name, you know what year it is, and you know there is mustard in the fridge because you put it there.

However, not all of our memories are stored in the same way, nor in the same place in our brains. Declarative memory can be further broken down into semantic memory and episodic memory.

Semantic memory refers to general knowledge about the world. For example, knowing that cats are mammals.

Episodic memory refers to episodes of your life, typically with elements of “what”, “where” and “when”. For example, I remember cuddling my pet cat (what) in my home office (where) just before sitting down to write this article (when).

A sense of self-awareness is strongly involved in episodic memory. It’s the feeling of personally remembering.

For semantic memories, this sense is not as strong – you can have detached knowledge without the context of “how” and “when”. For instance, I know that Canberra is the capital city of Australia (semantic memory), yet I can’t remember specifically when and where I learnt this (episodic memory).

Lessons from amnesia

In the mid-20th century, famous case studies of amnesic patients were the early evidence of this distinction between semantic and episodic memory.

For example, Henry Molaison and Kent Cochrane both experienced brain damage that severely impacted their episodic memory abilities.

They couldn’t recall events from their lives, but knew many things about the world in general. In effect, their personal past had vanished, even though their general knowledge remained intact.

In one interview after the accident that caused his brain damage, Cochrane was able to describe how to change a flat tire in perfect detail – despite not remembering having ever done this task.

There have also been reports of cases of people whose ability to recall semantic memories is largely impaired, while their episodic memory abilities seem mostly fine. This is known as semantic dementia.

Your age affects how your memory works

Young children have both memory systems, but they develop at different rates. The capacity to form strong semantic memories comes first, while episodic memory takes longer.

In fact, true episodic memory ability may not fully develop until around the age of three or four years. This helps explain why you have scant memories of your earliest childhood. We gain greater self-awareness around the same age too.

While episodic memory ability develops more slowly in early life, it also declines more quickly in old age. On average, older adults tend to remember fewer episodic details compared to younger adults in memory recall assessments.

In older adults with more severe cognitive decline, such as dementia, the ability to recall episodic memories is typically much more affected, compared to semantic memories. For example, they might have difficulty remembering they had pasta for lunch the day before (episodic memory), while still having perfect knowledge of what pasta is (semantic memory).

Ultimately, it all works together

Brain imaging studies have actually revealed that overlapping areas of the brain are active when recalling both semantic and episodic types of memories. In a neurological sense, these two types of memory appear to have more similarities than differences.

In fact, some have suggested episodic and semantic memory might be better thought of as a continuum rather than as completely distinct memory systems. These days, researchers acknowledge memory recall in everyday life involves tight interaction between both types.

A major example of how you need both types to work together is autobiographical memory, also called personal semantics. This refers to personally relevant information about yourself.

Let’s say you call yourself “a good swimmer”. At first glance, this may appear to be a semantic memory – a fact without the how, why, or when. However, recall of such a personally relevant fact will likely also produce related recall of episodic experiences when you’ve been swimming.

All this is related to something known as semanticisation – the gradual transformation of episodic memories into semantic memories. As you can imagine, it challenges the distinction between semantic and episodic memory.

How our memories form over time. Shane Rogers/The Conversation

Ultimately, how we remember shapes how we understand ourselves. Episodic memory allows us to mentally return to experiences that feel personally lived, while semantic memory provides the stable knowledge that binds those experiences into a coherent life story.

Over time, the boundary between the two softens as specific events are condensed into broader beliefs about who we are, what we value, and what we can do. Memory is not simply a storehouse of the past. It’s an active system that continually reshapes our sense of identity.

Shane Rogers, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→January 29, 2026

10 Minutes of Intensive Workout Can Trigger Powerful Anti-Cancer Effects: New Study

Credit: Fitsum Admasu

Those brief, intense workouts you’ve heard about that boost fitness might also help fight certain types of cancer by releasing molecules into the bloodstream that can spur DNA repair and inhibit cancer growth signals.

When embarking on an exercise routine for the new year, take heart that new research reveals that just 10 minutes of intense exercise could help fight cancer, too.

Short bursts of energetic activity can trigger rapid molecular changes in the bloodstream, shutting down bowel cancer growth and speeding up DNA damage repair, a new study has shown.

Researchers at Newcastle University have found that exercise increases the concentration of several small molecules in the blood—many linked to reducing inflammation, improving blood vessel function, and metabolism.

When these exercise-induced molecules were applied to bowel cancer cells in the lab, the activity of more than 1,300 genes was altered, including those involved in DNA repair, energy production, and cancer cell growth.

The findings, published in the International Journal of Cancer, help explain one way exercise can protect against bowel cancer: by sending molecular signals in the bloodstream that influence the activity of genes that govern tumor growth and genome instability.

The study is another step forwards in the fight against bowel cancer and further strengthens the importance of staying active.

‘Opens door to new treatments’

“What’s remarkable is that exercise doesn’t just benefit healthy tissues, it sends powerful signals through the bloodstream that can directly influence thousands of genes in cancer cells,” said Dr. Sam Orange, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology at Newcastle University, who led the study.

“It’s an exciting insight because it opens the door to find ways that mimic or augment the biological effects of exercise, potentially improving cancer treatment and, crucially, patient outcomes.

“In the future, these insights could lead to new therapies that imitate the beneficial effects of exercise on how cells repair damaged DNA and use fuel for energy.”

The Newcastle researchers found that exercise boosted the activity of genes that support mitochondrial energy metabolism, enabling cells to use oxygen more efficiently.

At the same time, genes linked to rapid cell growth were switched off, which could reduce the aggressiveness of cancer cells, and exercise-conditioned blood promoted DNA repair, activating a key repair gene called PNKP.

The study involved 30 volunteers, male and female aged 50–78, all overweight or obese (a risk factor of cancer) but otherwise healthy.

After completing a short, intense cycling test lasting approximately 10 minutes, researchers collected blood samples and analysed 249 proteins. As many as 13 proteins increased after exercise, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), which helps repair the DNA of damaged cells.

“These results suggest that exercise doesn’t just benefit healthy tissues, it may also create a more hostile environment for cancer cells to grow,” said Dr. Orange, a Clinical Exercise Physiologist at The Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“Even a single workout can make a difference. One bout of exercise, lasting just 10 minutes, sends powerful signals to the body.”

“It’s a reminder that every step, every session, counts when it comes to doing your best to protect your health.”

Bowel cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the UK, after breast, prostate and lung—and it’s estimated that physical activity reduces the risk by approximately 20%.

It can be done by going to the gym, playing sports or through active travel such as walking or biking to work, but also as part of household tasks or work like gardening or cleaning.In the future, researchers plan to test whether repeated exercise sessions produce lasting changes and explore how these effects interact with standard cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 10 Minutes of Intensive Workout Can Trigger Powerful Anti-Cancer Effects: New Study

Read More........→January 13, 2026

Experts warn about risks of cosmetic face fillers

People who have cosmetic filler injections in their face should be warned of the risk of a dangerous complication involving blocked arteries that can lead to skin loss and even blindness due to damaged blood flow, say experts.

Researchers used ultrasound to study 100 cases of filler injections that had gone wrong, BBC News reported.

Clinics are now being advised to carry out ultrasounds before giving dermal fillers in the face, to avoid harming any nearby arteries.

Lead researcher Dr Rosa Sigrist says that, although uncommon, such "vascular occlusion" events - where the filler is injected into or too close to blood vessels - can be devastating because they can cause tissue death and facial deformity if not treated.

Dermal fillers are injectable substances, commonly used to target wrinkles and smooth or "rejuvenate" the skin.

Sometimes they are used to contour or shape the nose or lips.

Areas around the nose are particularly risky injection sites, says Dr Sigrist, because nasal blood vessels communicate with some very important parts of the head.

Damage to these vessels can cause severe complications including skin damage, blindness and stroke, she explains.

Dr Sigrist's team, from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, studied filler-related vascular complications in 100 patients across four radiology centers (two in Brazil, one in Colombia and one in Chile), one dermatology centre in the Netherlands and one plastic surgery centre in the US between May 2022 and April 2025.

Her work will be presented at a medical conference - the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America - this week.

In just under half the cases, ultrasound scans showed absent blood flow to small blood vessels that connect superficial arteries to deep ones in the face.

And in a third of cases, blood flow was absent in major blood vessels.

To avoid complications in the first place, she advises clinics to use ultrasound to plan where to inject.

If complications do arise, ultrasound can guide where to treat.

"If injectors are not guided by ultrasound, they treat based on where the clinical findings are and inject blindly," Dr. Sigrist says.

"But if we can see the ultrasound finding, we can target the exact place where the occlusion occurs."

Rather than flooding the area with a drug called hyaluronidase to dissolve the filler, clinicians can do guided injections that use less hyaluronidase and provide better treatment results, she says. Source: https://www.panorama.am/

Read More........→January 05, 2026

Diets Rich in Tea, Coffee, Berries and Nuts Linked to Better Long-term Heart Health in New Study

Credit: Julian Hochgesang

People who regularly consume polyphenol-rich foods and drinks, such as tea, coffee, berries, cocoa, nuts, whole grains, and olive oil, may have better long-term heart health, according to a new study.

The research, led by King’s College London, found that those with higher adherence to polyphenol-rich dietary patterns had lower predicted cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.

Polyphenols, natural compounds found in plants, are linked to a variety of health benefits, including improved heart, brain, and gut health.

Researchers followed 3,100 adults from the TwinsUK cohort for over a decade and, for the first time, the researchers also analyzed a large number of metabolites in the urine that are produced when the body breaks down polyphenols.

They found that diets rich in specific groups of polyphenols were linked to healthier blood pressure and cholesterol profiles, contributing to lower CVD risk scores.

These biomarkers confirmed that higher levels of polyphenol metabolites—especially those derived from specific groups of polyphenols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids—had lower cardiovascular risk scores. They also had increased HDL cholesterol, also know as ‘good cholesterol’.

The study, published recently in BMC Medicine, used a newly developed polyphenol dietary score (PPS) to capture intake of 20 key polyphenol-rich foods commonly consumed, ranging from tea and coffee to berries, olive oil, nuts, and whole grains.

This score showed stronger associations with cardiovascular health than estimates of total polyphenol intake, likely because it captures overall dietary patterns rather than individual compounds.

This finding suggests that considering the whole diet provides a more accurate picture of how polyphenol-rich foods work together to support long-term heart health.

“Our findings show that long-term adherence to polyphenol-rich diets can substantially slow the rise in cardiovascular risk as people age,” said Professor Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, Professor of Human Nutrition at King’s College London.

“Even small, sustained shifts towards foods like berries, tea, coffee, nuts, and whole grains may help protect the heart over time.”

Dr. Yong Li, first author of the study, said the research provides “strong evidence that regularly including polyphenol-rich foods in your diet is a simple and effective way to support heart health.”

Additionally, while cardiovascular risk naturally increases with age, higher polyphenol intake was associated with a slower progression of risk over the 11-year follow-up period. Diets Rich in Tea, Coffee, Berries and Nuts Linked to Better Long-term Heart Health in New Study

Read More........→December 18, 2025

Study decodes how females and males experience depression

(Photo: AI generated image/IANS)

New Delhi, (IANS) A team of Australian researchers has decoded important genetic differences in how females and males experience depression for the first time, an advance that could pave the way for more targeted intervention and treatments.

In the study, published in Nature Communications, scientists found that genetic factors contribute more to depression risk in females than in males.

The team from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute discovered about twice as many genetic "flags" for depression in the DNA of females as they did in that of males.

"We already know that females are twice as likely to suffer from depression in their lifetime than males," said Dr. Brittany Mitchell, Senior Researcher at QIMR Berghofer's Genetic Epidemiology Lab.

"And we also know that depression looks very different from one person to another. Until now, there hasn't been much consistent research to explain why depression affects females and males differently, including the possible role of genetics," Mitchell added.

The team identified about 7,000 changes in the DNA that could cause depression in both sexes, and about a further 6,000 DNA changes (a total of 13,000) that could cause depression in females only.

Researcher Dr. Jodi Thomas said the study also pinpointed how depression could show up differently for females and males.

The team found that the genetic factors linked to depression overlap more with those associated with metabolic traits in females.

"We found some genetic differences that may help explain why females with depression more often experience metabolic symptoms, such as weight changes or altered energy levels."

For the largest global study of its kind, the scientists analysed DNA from hundreds of thousands of people with and without depression, including around 130,000 females and 65,000 males with depression.

The changes in DNA that the scientists have identified are genetic differences people are born with, not changes that happen because of life experiences.

Traditionally, most drug trials and therapies are tested on males, but Drs Mitchell and Thomas hope their work will also translate to a greater clinical understanding of female depression.

"Unpacking the shared and unique genetic factors in males and females gives us a clearer picture of what causes depression -- and opens the door to more personalized treatments," Dr. Thomas said.The findings highlight the importance of considering sex-specific genetic influences in studying depression and other health conditions. Study decodes how females and males experience depression | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→December 10, 2025

RSV infections in babies may raise asthma risk later, vaccine offers hope: Study

(Photo: AI generated image/IANS)

New Delhi, (IANS) An international team of scientists has found compelling evidence that early-infancy infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) significantly increases the risk of developing childhood asthma.

The risk is especially higher in children with a family history of allergy or asthma.

The study, published in the Science Immunology journal, suggests that protecting newborns against RSV could substantially reduce asthma cases later in life.

"Childhood asthma is a complex disease with many contributing factors," said Prof. Bart Lambrecht from VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and Ghent University in Belgium.

"We found that early-life RSV infection and genetic allergy risk interact in a very specific way that pushes the immune system toward asthma. The encouraging news is that this process can be prevented," Lambrecht added.

The team, including researchers from Denmark, combined population-wide health registry data from all Danish children and their parents with controlled laboratory experiments. They found that early viral infection and inherited allergy risk amplify one another.

Infants who experience severe RSV infections in the first months of life show an increased likelihood of immune cells overreacting to common allergens, such as house dust mites.

This effect is dramatically intensified when asthma or allergy runs in the family, as allergen-specific antibodies passed from parents to the newborn further heighten sensitivity.

Importantly, the team found that when newborns were protected from RSV in experimental models, these harmful immune shifts did not occur -- and asthma development was prevented.

"With RSV prevention now becoming widely accessible, we have an opportunity to improve long-term respiratory health, not just prevent RSV hospitalisations," said Prof. Hamida Hammad (VIB-UGent).

"This is not just a laboratory insight. It's a message that should help parents choose RSV prevention with confidence," Hammad added.

Maternal vaccination during the third trimester of pregnancy and passive immunisation of newborns with long-acting antibodies are being introduced in many countries. Yet despite their strong ability to prevent RSV hospitalisations, uptake remains inconsistent."This is a moment where policy, science, and paediatricians can come together," Lambrecht said. “If preventing RSV infection also reduces asthma risk, the benefits for families and health systems could be enormous.” RSV infections in babies may raise asthma risk later, vaccine offers hope: Study | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→December 05, 2025

Normal Thyroid Function in Pregnancy Linked to Lower Autism Risk in Large Study

Getty Images for Unsplash+

Persistent hormone disruption during pregnancy trimesters appears to increase the likelihood of autism in children, shows a new large cohort study.

Women who experience continuing thyroid hormone irregularities throughout pregnancy may face a higher chance of having a child diagnosed with autism, according to a study released in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Thyroid hormones supplied by the mother play an important role in fetal neurodevelopment. When these hormones become disrupted during pregnancy, previous work has linked the imbalance to atypical brain development and a higher likelihood of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Autism is a multifaceted condition that shapes how an individual communicates, interacts socially, and interprets the world.

Untreated Multi-Trimester Imbalance Carries Higher Risk

“We found that while adequately treated chronic thyroid dysfunction was not associated with increased autism risk in offspring, ongoing imbalance across multiple trimesters was,” said Idan Menashe, Ph.D., of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.

“These findings underscore the need for routine monitoring and timely adjustment of therapy to maintain normal thyroid hormone levels throughout pregnancy.”

A Clear Pattern

The research tracked more than 51,000 births between January 2011 and December 2017

and reported that mothers with persistent thyroid hormone imbalance across their pregnancy had an increased likelihood of having children with autism.

A total of 4409 (8.6%) of the mothers showed abnormal thyroid function.

The authors also documented a dose-response pattern, meaning the risk rose as the number of affected trimesters increased.No funding was received for this study.Normal Thyroid Function in Pregnancy Linked to Lower Autism Risk in Large Study

Read More........→December 03, 2025

Exercising in mid and later life can reduce dementia risk – new study

Centre for Ageing Better/Unsplash Joyce Siette, Western Sydney University

For years, scientists have known that moving our bodies can sharpen our minds. Physical activity boosts blood flow to the brain, enhances neuroplasticity and reduces chronic inflammation. These processes are believed to protect against cognitive decline, including dementia.

Yet despite decades of research, major questions have remained unresolved.

Does exercising at any age help reduce your risk of dementia? Or only when you’re young? And what if you have a higher genetic risk – can exercising still make a difference?

New research from the long-running Framingham Heart Study in the United States, published today, offers some of the clearest answers to date. Their findings support what many clinicians already tell patients: exercise helps.

But the study also offers new insight into the potentially protective effect of staying active at the age of 45 and over – even for those with a certain genetic predisposition to dementia.

What did the study examine?

The new research draws on data from 4,290 participants enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort. This study began in 1948, when researchers recruited more than 5,000 adults aged 30 and over from the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, to investigate long-term risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

In 1971, a second generation (more than 5,000 adult children of the original cohort, and their spouses) were enrolled, forming the Offspring cohort. This generation then had regular health and medical assessments every four to eight years.

In the new study, participants self-reported their physical activity. This included incidental activity such as climbing stairs as well as vigorous exercise.

Participants first reported these activities in 1971, and then again over several decades. Based on the age at which each participant was first evaluated, they were grouped into three categories:

• young adulthood (26–44 years): assessed in the late 1970s

• midlife (45–64 years): assessed during the late 1980s and 1990s

• older adulthood (65 years and over): assessed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

To examine how physical activity influences dementia risk, the researchers looked at how many people developed dementia in each age group and at what age they were diagnosed.

Then they considered physical activity patterns within age groups (low, moderate, high) to see if there was any link between how much exercise people did and whether they developed dementia.

They also looked at who had a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, the APOE ε4 allele.

Research has long shown moving our bodies can sharpen our minds. Jonathan Borba/Unsplash

What did they find?

Over the follow-up period, 13.2% (567) of the 4,290 participants developed dementia, mostly in the older age group.

This is quite high compared with other long-term longitudinal dementia studies and with Australian rates (one in 12 or 8.3% Australians over 65 currently have dementia).

When researchers examined physical activity levels, the pattern was striking. Those with the highest levels of activity in midlife and later life were 41–45% less likely to develop dementia than those who had the lowest levels of activity.

This was the case even after adjusting for demographic factors that increase dementia risk (such as age and education) and other chronic health factors (such as high blood pressure and diabetes).

Interestingly, being physically active during early adulthood did not influence dementia risk.

A key innovation of this study was its examination of the genetic risk factor, the APOE ε4 allele. This analysis suggests something new:

• in midlife, higher physical activity lowered dementia risk only in people who didn’t carry this genetic predisposition

• but in later life, higher physical activity lowered dementia risk in both carriers and non-carriers.

This means for people genetically predisposed to dementia, staying active later in life may still offer meaningful protection.

How significant are these results?

The findings largely reinforce what scientists already know: exercise is good for the brain.

What sets this study apart is its large sample, multi-decade follow-up, and its genetic analysis across different life periods.

The suggestion that midlife activity benefits some individuals differently depending on their genetic risk, while late-life activity benefits nearly everyone, may also add a new layer to public health messaging.

But there were some limitations

Physical activity was largely self-reported in this study, so there is a possibility of recall bias. We also do not know what type of exercise brings the best benefits.

Dementia cases in the youngest age group were rather rare too, so the small sample limits how definitively we can make conclusions about early adulthood.

The cohort is also predominantly of European ancestry and share environmental factors as they come from the same town, so this limits how much we can generalise the findings to more diverse populations.

This is particularly important given global inequities in dementia risk and diagnosis. Knowledge about dementia and risk factors also remains low in ethnically diverse groups, where it is often still seen as a “normal” part of ageing.

What does this mean for us?

The takeaway is refreshingly simple though: move more, at any age. At this stage we know there are more benefits than harm.

Joyce Siette, Associate Professor | Deputy Director, The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→November 24, 2025

Stem cell therapy may help reduce heart failure after a heart attack

(Photo: AI generated image/IANS)

New Delhi, (IANS) Patients with weak heart function who receive stem cell therapy shortly after a heart attack are less likely to suffer heart failure, according to a study.

Heart failure can occur after a heart attack when the heart muscle is extensively damaged, weakening its ability to pump blood effectively.

This can be a sudden complication (acute heart failure) or a long-term one. Symptoms include trouble breathing, fatigue, swelling in the legs, and an irregular heartbeat.

The clinical trial, published by the BMJ, suggests stem cell therapy may be a valuable add-on procedure for this particular group of patients after a heart attack to prevent subsequent heart failure and reduce the risk of future adverse events.

An international team of researchers, including those from Queen Mary University of London in the UK, set out to assess the impact of delivering stem cells directly into coronary arteries (known as intracoronary infusion) after a heart attack on the development of heart failure over three years.

“The results suggest that this technique may serve as a valuable adjunctive procedure after myocardial infarction to prevent the development of heart failure and reduce the risk of future adverse events," the team said.

The trial included 396 patients (average age 57-59 years) with no previous heart conditions at three teaching hospitals in Iran. They had all experienced a first heart attack (myocardial infarction).

Of these, 136 patients in the intervention group received an intracoronary infusion of allogenic Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells within 3-7 days of their heart attack in addition to standard care.

The remaining 260 control group patients received standard care alone.

Compared with the control group, intracoronary infusion of stem cells was associated with reduced rates of heart failure (2.77 vs. 6.48 per 100 person years), readmission to hospital for heart failure (0.92 vs. 4.20 per 100 person years), and a combined measure of cardiovascular death and readmission for heart attack or heart failure (2.8 vs. 7.16 per 100 person years).

The intervention did not have a statistically significant effect on readmission to the hospital for heart attack or death from cardiovascular disease.However, by six months, heart function in the intervention group showed a significantly greater improvement compared with the control group, said the researcher, while also urging the need for additional trials confirming the finding. Stem cell therapy may help reduce heart failure after a heart attack | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→November 13, 2025

Never Too Late to Start Eating the MIND Diet That May Prevent Dementia: New Study of 90,000 People

Monika Grabkowska for Unsplash+

It’s never too late to start eating better to prevent dementia, according a new analysis of research involving 90,000 adults.

People over the age of 45 who followed a dietary pattern known as the MIND diet were “significantly” less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or related forms of dementia, said the University of Hawaii scientists.

The MIND diet stands for Mediterranean Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, and was developed by the late Martha Clare Morris, ScD, a Rush University nutritional epidemiologist. It combines the traditional Mediterranean diet with the blood pressure-lowering DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).

It includes proven ‘brain-healthy’ foods such as leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts, fish, and olive oil.

The study found that the MIND diet had a stronger and more consistent risk reduction relationship with dementia than other ‘healthy’ diets for the majority of racial groups in the study.

Participants who improved their adherence to the diet the most over time showed the greatest pattern of risk reduction.

Overall, participants who scored higher for MIND adherence at the start of the study had a 9% lower risk of dementia, with an even greater reduction, of around 13%, among those who identified as African American, Latino or White.

The beneficial relationship was seen similarly among younger and older groups, which suggests that there are benefits to adopting the diet at any age.

“Our study findings confirm that healthy dietary patterns in mid to late life, and their improvement over time. may prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias,” said Dr. Song-Yi Park, Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

“This suggests that it is never too late to adopt a healthy diet to prevent dementia.”

Dr. Park and her colleagues analyzed data from more than 90,000 American adults who provided information about their diet, starting in the 1990s.

The participants were between 45- and 75-years-old at the outset, and more than 21,000 developed Alzheimer’s or related dementias in the years that followed.

The results also showed that people who improved their adherence to MIND over 10 years—including those who didn’t follow the diet closely at first—had a 25% lower risk of dementia compared to those whose adherence declined.

Dr. Park said that trend was consistent across different ages and racial groups.

However, the protective relationship between a healthy diet and dementia was not as apparent among Asian Americans and even less so for Native Hawaiians.

“A tailored approach may be needed when evaluating different subpopulations’ diet quality,” said Park, who added that further studies could help clarify those patterns.Dr. Park presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, Florida, on June 2. Never Too Late to Start Eating the MIND Diet That May Prevent Dementia: New Study of 90,000 People

Read More........→November 11, 2025

Hope Is the Most Impactful Emotion in Determining Long-Term Economic, Social Outcomes

Photo by Carl Hunley Jr on Unsplash

Is hope just “a thing with feathers” as Dickenson wrote, or is it Aristotle’s “waking dream?”

Or instead. is it “a promise we live” rather than a “promise we give” as Amanda Gorman wrote in 2021.

According to new research examining the impact of hope as a positive emotion on long-term economic and social outcomes, it’s very much the Gorman definition.

That research presents evidence that not only is hope the least-studied dimension of positive emotional wellbeing, but that it’s also likely the most consequential in terms of long-term outcomes—beyond things like happiness or security.

Individuals in an Australian cohort of 25,000 randomly-sampled people that were more hopeful had on average improved wellbeing, education, economic, and employment outcomes measures years later, both better perceived health and objective measures of health, and were less likely to be lonely.

Hope in the researchers’ paper was also associated with higher resilience, the ability to adapt, and a robust internal locus of control. Hopeful individuals were also less likely to be influenced by negative life events and adapted more quickly and completely after these events.

Perhaps contrary to others’ definitions, the study authors defined hope as having a “strong grounding in individual agency.”

“Hope is not just a belief that things will get better (i.e., optimism), but the determination to make them better, which reflects agency and determination,” they wrote in their introduction. “The distinction between tragic optimists and hopeful pessimists is another way to think of this.”

Their data was pulled from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, which began collecting self-completed questionnaires in addition to face-to-face interviews with members of the Australian public over the age of 15 in 2001.

The data used in the study goes as far back as 2007, and includes the years 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. The measurements of hope were simply the reverse measurements for one of the survey questions on psychological distress which read, “In the past 4 weeks, how often have you felt hopeless?”

69% of respondents said “all of the time” over the last 4 weeks, and 18% said “most of the time.”

Not only did they enjoy more positive outcomes in health, education, and economic undertakings than those who were less hopeful on average, but that moving from less hopeful to more hopeful was correlated with improved attainment in these dimensions.

Moving from hopeless to hopeful correlated to better life outcomes credit – Mahdi Dastmard

Moving, for example, from totally hopeless to totally hopeful resulted in a 4% higher probability of achieving a bachelor’s degree in the next 2 years and a 2% lower probability of being unemployed in future years.

In the health realm, higher levels of hope were linked to a lower probability of being obese in the next 2 years, to reductions in smoking levels, and even to a lower likelihood of having a serious illness or injury. Hopeful people were more likely to have more friends, and less likely to be both lonely and being incarcerated in future years.

One caveat with the data follows the tendency typified by the famous “healthy user bias” in nutrition and fitness literature, where data can appear more impactful than it may actually be because of the way that people who are likely to make a choice regarding their health (for example, choosing to exercise thrice a week) are more likely to make further choices in regards to their health than those who avoid making any such choices.

Essentially, there was a 1.5% greater chance that previous survey respondents would undergo follow-up surveys if they were more hopeful, skewing the data slightly towards the hopeful over the hopeless.

The authors claim it’s the first large-scale analysis showing the links between hope and a range of long-term life outcomes.“We believe that better understanding the drivers of hope and its consequences can ultimately inform the ability of both individuals and of public policy to improve people’s lives,” the authors wrote in their conclusion. Hope Is the Most Impactful Emotion in Determining Long-Term Economic, Social Outcomes

Read More........→November 04, 2025

Childbirth and Breastfeeding Can Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Shows New Study

– credit Leighann Blackwood

Scientists in Australia, which endures the highest rates of breast cancer in the world, have presented multiple lines of evidence to suggest that breastfeeding and childbearing reduces a woman’s risk for developing breast cancer.

The scientists started by first pointing out that as far back as 300 years ago, people noted that women who didn’t have children—nuns, in this case—suffered from the highest rates of breast cancer in society.

More modern research confirmed these early observations, but the mechanism behind why that might be remained hidden. While previously hypothesized to be the work of hormonal shifts, the answer now seems clear: breastfeeding works on the human immune system.

“Pregnancy and breastfeeding leave behind long-lived protective immune cells in the breast and the body, and these cells help to reduce risk and improve defense against breast cancer, particularly triple-negative breast cancer,” Professor Sherene Loi, a medical oncologist and lead author on the research, told ABC News Au.

Triple-negative breast cancer, one of several forms of the disease, is characterized by an absence of the three receptors commonly found on breast cancer cells. It’s common in younger women but is one of the less-common forms of the cancer, as well as the most lethal.

Cancer risk is determined by many factors, but Loi felt confidant is ascribing the decision by many modern women around the world to delay pregnancy and shorten, or even abandon breastfeeding, as contributing to cancer risk.

A study published last week in Nature found that women who had children and breastfed had more T cells in their breast tissue, which “act like local guards, ready to attack abnormal cells that might turn into cancer,” Loi said.

T cells are those which are activated to fight cancer in the Nobel Prize-winning treatment known as CAR-T cell therapy, and these were found to be more plentiful in the breast tissue of women who breastfed or had children, and that these elevated T cell counts were conserved for years and years after the mother had stopped breastfeeding.

To provide additional controls, Professor Loi and her co-authors performed a test with mice, implanting cancerous cells in the mammary fat of animals that had never reared offspring, that were rearing them, or who had had and finished rearing them.

Group 2 showed smaller tumor growth with a higher T cell count, while group 3—those who had reared and weened pups—showed the smallest tumors. To continue their tests, the scientists removed the T cells from the mammary tissue, and the cancer began to grow and spread unabated.

Lastly, the study presented an analysis on 2 papers totaling 1,000 women with triple-negative breast cancer to see if the effect in mice was replicated in humans.

“What we found is that women who had breastfed did better than those who had not breastfed, and their tumors actually had more immune cells … suggesting there was ongoing immune activation and regulation from the body against their breast cancer,” Professor Loi told ABC.

Though quantifying this protective effect is very nuanced, it seems that every child a woman has reduces her risk for breast cancer by 7%, and each 5 months of breastfeeding reduces it by an additional 2%.These are substantial differences when the average rate of breast cancer incidence is about 1 in 8 women Childbirth and Breastfeeding Can Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Shows New Study

Read More........→October 30, 2025

A healthier gut may help improve depression and anxiety, says study

(Photo: AI generated image/IANS)

New Delhi,  (IANS) Gut microbiome may hold the key to improving depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions -- one of the world’s most pressing health challenges affecting nearly one in seven people globally, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of South Australia explored the connections between the gut and the brain to decipher their role in mental health and wellbeing.

They examined the growing evidence that the gut and the brain are deeply connected. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Mental Health, found the strongest proof yet that changes in a person’s gut microbiome can directly affect their brain chemistry.

“The gut–brain connection is one of the most exciting frontiers in mental health research,” said lead author Srinivas Kamath, a doctoral candidate at the varsity.

“We already know that the trillions of microbes in our digestive system talk to the brain through chemical and neural pathways, affecting our mood, stress levels, and even cognition.

“But the big question is whether changes in gut bacteria actually drive mental illness or mirror what’s happening elsewhere in the body,” Kamath said

The team's review of studies found strong causal evidence that gut microbes can change brain chemistry, stress responses, and behaviours in animal models, as well as disrupted gut patterns in conditions like depression and schizophrenia.

They also found that early trials of probiotics, diet changes, and faecal microbiota transplants help improve mood and anxiety, and psychiatric medications can change the microbiome, demonstrating the gut-brain connection.

Globally, mental health disorders affect nearly 970 million people, with depression and anxiety ranking among the leading causes of disability. Yet up to one-third of patients do not respond to current medications or therapies, highlighting the need for new and accessible treatments.

“If we can prove that gut bacteria play a direct role in mental illness, it could transform how we diagnose, treat, and even prevent these conditions,” said co-researcher Dr Paul Joyce.

“Microbiome-based therapies such as probiotics, prebiotics, or tailored diets may offer accessible, safer, low-cost, and culturally adaptable options that complement existing care,” Joyce added.The researchers called for future studies to track gut changes over time and include more diverse, larger populations to better understand how diet, environment, and culture shape the gut-brain connection.A healthier gut may help improve depression and anxiety, says study | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com:

Read More........→October 12, 2025

Poor air quality can affect your joints, trigger severe rheumatoid arthritis: Experts

IANS Photo

New Delhi, (IANS): Poor air quality may not just be choking your lungs, it can also attack joints, leading to severe rheumatoid arthritis, experts said here on Thursday.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, especially the joints, causing persistent pain, swelling, stiffness, and disability.

Traditionally linked to genetics and immune system dysfunction, RA is now increasingly being associated with environmental triggers like air pollution.

Recent studies in Europe, China, and now India suggest that exposure to PM2.5 -- the dangerous fine particulate matter that penetrates deep into the lungs -- may be linked not only to heart and lung diseases but also to autoimmune disorders like RA.

“We are observing a rise in cases of RA in patients living in polluted areas that have no family history or genetic predisposition to autoimmune disease. Pollutants induce inflammatory reactions, exacerbating joint damage and promoting disease progression,” said Dr. Uma Kumar, Head of Rheumatology at AIIMS, New Delhi.

“These toxins trigger systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, causing an overactive immune response. This is a public health emergency we can no longer ignore,” added Kumar, while speaking at the 40th Annual Conference of the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRACON 2025), at Yashobhoomi, Dwarka here.

Current estimates suggest that RA already affects around 1 per cent of India’s adult population, but with pollution as a trigger, these numbers may spike dramatically.

Dr. Pulin Gupta, Professor and Rheumatologist at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital highlighted that the pollution-related cases of RA are more severe than the general ones.

“What we are witnessing is not just more RA cases but also more severe ones. Patients exposed to higher concentrations of PM2.5 are presenting with aggressive disease that progresses faster. Reduced green spaces in urban areas are worsening the problem, depriving residents of protective environmental buffers,” Gupta said.

Studies have shown strong associations between exposure to PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, and ozone, with increased risk of RA and worsening symptoms, especially in genetically susceptible individuals. Living near busy roads, which means constant traffic-related pollution, has also been linked to higher RA risk.

The experts also pointed out that autoimmune diseases like RA are lifelong conditions with no permanent cure, only management.The health experts stressed the urgent need for multidisciplinary action: stricter pollution control, increased public awareness, and early screening of at-risk populations, and lifestyle changes to reduce exposure. They also called for expansion of urban green cover, cleaner transport solutions, and stronger national policies linking air quality to health. Poor air quality can affect your joints, trigger severe rheumatoid arthritis: Experts | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com.

Read More........→October 10, 2025

New Study of 10,000+ People Revealed Regular Physical Activity Is Linked to Larger Healthier Brains

– credit, Getty Images for Unsplash +

In a new study, scientists seeking to better understand how physical activity protects against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s found it’s because exercise makes the brain larger.

2 to 3 days of moderate to vigorous physical activity was correlated to a significant increase in total brain matter and in specific regions like the temporal lobe and hippocampus.

To ensure the record is understood absolutely clearly—there’s no doubt that physical activity protects the brain from neurodegenerative diseases, including mild and severe cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, and other forms of dementia.

The Canadian/American research team sought to better understand the mechanisms behind this effect.

Light physical activity, number of steps taken per day, and number of city blocks traversed per day, are all modalities that have been used to measure connections between physical activity and preventing these diseases, showing that even pedestrian, non-athletic, non-sportive activity can be neuroprotective in some cases.

One of the main culprits, in a positive sense, for this effect is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is released into the brain during periods of exercise where it lowers neuro-inflammation, improves synaptic connection, and performs other functions too numerous to list here.

The study benefitted from the use of a deep-learning neural network that allowed for multiple MRI scans of the same brain to be analyzed rapidly.

10,000 participants (and their brains) with an average age of 54, but ranging from 18 to 97, who were about half men and half women made up the study cohorts.

Exercise was self-reported—an inevitable flaw when conducting large population studies like this one. Participants were asked how many days of the week they engaged in 10 minutes or more of moderate or vigorous intensity exercise.

While previous studies quantified moderate and vigorous intensity through heartbeats per minute, this and other more modern studies simply define moderate as being engaged in physical activity and still being able to talk, but not being able to sing. Vigorous was defined as being in a state where only a few words could be spoken before pausing to breathe.

10,125 brain MRI scans were examined, and it was determined that a higher number of days of moderate to vigorous physical activity “predicted larger normalized brain volumes in multiple regions, including total gray matter volume, total white matter volume, hippocampus, frontal cortex, parietal lobes, and occipital lobe,” the authors wrote.

This was particularly true for the occipital lobe, parietal lobe, hippocampus, posterior cingulate, and temporal lobe, which all had correlative significance (also known as the p-value) of 6 or higher. A result of 6 or higher is typically when scientists begin to take notice of correlations—trained as they are to take them always with a grain of salt.

Brain matter and size are all predictors of better cognitive and neurological health as we age, while neurodegenerative diseases are often found in less-dense brains.

“The study included adults aged 18-97, showing it’s never too early or late to start,” wrote Chris Kresser, founder of the California Center for Functional Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

“While 75% of participants reported doing some regular physical activity, many didn’t meet standard exercise guidelines—yet still showed brain benefits. This adds to growing evidence that even modest physical activity can protect brain health.”

“Notably, moderate exercise appeared more beneficial than vigorous activity, suggesting you don’t need to be a super-athlete to reap the brain benefits,” he added. New Study of 10,000+ People Revealed Regular Physical Activity Is Linked to Larger Healthier Brains

Read More........→October 09, 2025

Feeding Blueberries to Babies May Reduce Allergy Symptoms and Improve Gut Health

Blueberries on the shrub – SWNS

Feeding blueberries to babies may reduce allergy symptoms and improve their gut health, according to new research.

The ground-breaking clinical trial shows consuming the fruit early in life can improve immunity and support long-term health.

Feeding blueberries to babies as one of their first solid foods may help strengthen their immune systems, reduce allergy symptoms and support healthy gut development, says scientists at the University of Colorado.

To safely introduce the “superfood” to younger infants, the research team recommend pureeing them.

For older babies and toddlers, they say blueberries should be mashed or cut into small pieces to eliminate choking hazards.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, is the first of its kind to rigorously test the effects of a specific food on infant health using a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

“For parents beginning to wean their infants, it’s incredibly difficult to find solid, research-backed advice on what foods to introduce,” said the study’s senior author Professor Minghua Tang, from the University of Colorado in Anschutz.

“This study is a critical first step in filling that gap by offering real data on how a specific food like blueberries can improve your infant’s health.”

The researchers followed 61 babies in the Denver area from five to 12 months of age.

Each day, participants consumed either freeze-dried blueberry powder, or a placebo powder with no blueberries.

Parents were free to feed their children as they normally would, simply adding the powder to their daily routine.

The research team collected stool and blood samples every two months to monitor changes in the infants’ gut bacteria, immune system biomarkers and allergy-related outcomes. They also tracked growth and dietary habits.

Key findings included improved allergy symptoms in babies who consumed blueberry powder, reduced inflammation and signs of a stronger immune response, and “positive” shifts in gut microbiota—with changes considered beneficial for immune health.

“This research supports the idea that blueberries are not only safe for infants but also offer meaningful health benefits,” added Professor Tang.

“Just a few blueberries a day could make a difference in supporting long-term health.”

“We view infancy as a critical window of opportunity and what we introduce during this time can have lasting effects as children grow.”The research team is continuing to explore what other early foods might help support healthy gut bacteria and a strong immune system as babies grow to ensure there’s better guidance in place for parents. Feeding Blueberries to Babies May Reduce Allergy Symptoms and Improve Gut Health

Read More........→September 30, 2025

Watching Sports Boosts Well-being and Improves Your Health, According to ‘Ground-breaking’ Research

Roger Wilson Stadium Buffalo Bills game – by runneralan2004 (CC license)

Beyond simply providing entertainment and relaxation, watching sports fosters community and belonging, which benefits both individuals and their society.

Despite its recognized positive effects, limited evidence exists on the link between watching sports and well-being. To address this gap, the team of Japanese researchers used a multi-method approach and found that sports viewing activates brain reward circuits, leading to improved well-being.

This is especially true when watching popular sports like baseball or football, which can notably boost both physical and mental well-being.

Their research offers insights for public health policies and individual well-being enhancement.

Led by Associate Professor Shintaro Sato from the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Waseda University, the team found that watching sport—particularly in large crowds—goes “beyond entertainment” by fostering a sense of community and personal belonging.

“This sense of connection not only makes individuals feel good but also benefits society by improving health, enhancing productivity, and reducing crime,” said Professor Sato.

He explained that a significant challenge in well-being research is the subjective nature of measurement procedures, potentially leading to biased findings. These studies focused on both subjective and objective measures of well-being, combining secondary data analysis, self-reports, and neuro-imaging measures to understand the connection.

In the first study, the researchers analyzed large-scale publicly available data on the influence of watching sports on 20,000 Japanese residents. The results of this study confirmed the ongoing pattern of elevated reported well-being associated with regular sports viewing. However, this study was limited by its inability to provide deeper insight into the relationship between sports consumption and well-being.

The second study, an online survey involving 208 participants, aimed at investigating whether the connection between sports viewing and well-being varied depending on the type of sport observed.

The experiment exposed them to a range of sports videos, assessing their well-being both before and after viewing.

The findings underscored that widely embraced sports, such as football, exerted a “more significant” impact on enhancing well-being compared to less popular sports, such as golf.

However, the most ground-breaking aspect of the research emerged in the third study where the team employed neuro-imaging techniques to scrutinize alterations in the brain activity of 14 Japanese participants before and after watching sports clips.

The results showed that watching sports triggered activation in the brain’s reward circuits, indicative of feelings of happiness or pleasure.

Analysis also revealed that people who reported watching sports more frequently exhibited greater gray matter volume in regions associated with reward circuits, suggesting that regular sports viewing may gradually induce changes in brain structures.

“Both subjective and objective measures of well-being were found to be positively influenced by engaging in sports viewing,” said Prof. Sato.

“By inducing structural changes in the brain’s reward system over time, it fosters long-term benefits for individuals.”

“For those seeking to enhance their overall well-being, regularly watching sports, particularly popular ones such as baseball or soccer, can serve as an effective remedy.”Prof. Sato says the findings, published in the journal Sport Management Review, have “profound” implications for not only sports fans but in a larger general population irrespective of their relationship to sports consumption. Watching Sports Boosts Well-being and Improves Your Health, According to ‘Ground-breaking’ Research

Read More........→September 18, 2025

Eating Baby Carrots 3 Times a Week May Provide Significant Health Benefits

By engin akyurt

A new study found that eating a snack of baby carrots just three times a week significantly increased skin carotenoids in young adults. Levels of these phytonutrients were boosted even more when combined with a multivitamin containing beta carotene.

Carotenoids are responsible for the red, orange, and yellow pigments in many fruits and vegetables—and when it’s measured in the skin it shows how many fruits and vegetables you’ve been eating.

Higher levels of skin carotenoids are linked to increased antioxidant protection, and a lower risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and some cancers. This marker also reflects improved skin health and immune function.

“Previous studies have demonstrated that skin carotenoid levels can be increased by consuming three times the recommended serving of fruits and vegetables every day for three weeks,” said Mary Harper Simmons, a Master of Science in Nutrition student at Samford University.

“Our findings suggest that a small, simple dietary modification — incorporating baby carrots as a snack — can significantly increase skin carotenoid accumulation.”

Simmons presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held June 29–July 2 in Chicago.

For the study, the researchers randomly assigned 60 young adults to groups that received a four-week intervention of either Granny Smith apple slices (the control group), 100 grams of baby carrots (around 1/2 cup), a multivitamin supplement containing beta carotene, or a combination of baby carrots and the supplement.

Before and after the intervention, they used a noninvasive research-grade spectroscopy instrument called a VeggieMeter to detect and quantify carotenoids in the skin of the study participants.

The team found that compared to their baseline levels, skin carotenoid scores were significantly increased by 10.8% in the group receiving the baby carrots and by 21.6% in the group receiving the carrots and the supplement. Skin carotenoid levels remained unchanged in the apple group, and in those receiving just the multi-vitamin supplement.

“We found that the combination of baby carrots and a multivitamin supplement that contains beta carotene can have an interactive effect on skin carotenoid accumulation,” said Simmons. “To get a beneficial effect, people should choose a multivitamin that contains beta carotene, and remember to eat baby carrots at least three times a week.”

Since carotenoid accumulation was not increased by multivitamin supplementation alone there could be differences in how carotenoids are absorbed, depending on whether they are from food or supplements.

The researchers would like to explore the mechanism behind these findings and study the effects of other carotenoid-rich foods, such as sweet potato or green leafy vegetables.The team noted that their current findings should be considered preliminary until a peer-reviewed publication is available. Eating Baby Carrots 3 Times a Week May Provide Significant Health Benefits

Read More........→September 17, 2025

Being Social–Like Dining Out, Traveling, or Playing Bingo, May Delay Dementia by 5 Years

By Curated Lifestyle for Unsplash+

Visiting friends, going to parties, and attending church or community bingo games may help keep your brain healthy, according to research conducted at Rush University that shows frequent social activity may help prevent or delay dementia in old age.

“In this study, we show that the least socially active older adults developed dementia an average of five years before the most socially active,” said Bryan James, PhD, associate professor of internal medicine at Rush.

Social activity can strengthen neural circuits in the brain, making them more resistant to the buildup of pathology that occurs with age. Social behavior activates the same areas of the brain involved in thinking and memory.

The findings, published online in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, suggest that more frequent social activity points to a 38% reduction in dementia risk and a 21% reduction in mild cognitive impairment risk, compared to the least socially active.

In addition, a five-year delay in dementia onset has been estimated to yield an additional three years of life and an economic benefit of reducing dementia costs by 40% in the next 30 years, potentially $500,000 in lifetime health care savings for each person who would eventually develop dementia.

Authors note that the findings highlight the value of social activity as a possible community-level intervention for reducing dementia.

The study included 1,923 dementia-free older adults with a mean age of about 80 who are participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, an ongoing longitudinal study of common chronic conditions of aging.

A total of 545 participants developed dementia, and 695 developed mild cognitive impairment. They each underwent yearly evaluations that included a medical history and neuropsychological tests.

Social activity was measured based on a questionnaire that asked participants whether, and how often, in the previous year they had engaged in six common social activities that involve social interaction — for example, whether they went to restaurants or sporting events, played bingo, took day or overnight trips, did volunteer work or visited relatives or friends.

Cognitive function was assessed using 21 tests for various types of memory as well as perceptual speed and visuospatial ability.

Use it or lose it

At the start of the investigation, all participants were free of any signs of cognitive impairment. Over an average of five years, however, those who were more socially active showed reduced rates of dementia. Other variables that might have accounted for the increase in cognitive decline — such as age, physical exercise and health—were all adjusted for in the analysis.

Why social activity plays a role in the development of cognitive problems is not clear. One possibility is that “social activity challenges older adults to participate in complex interpersonal exchanges, which could promote or maintain efficient neural networks in a case of ‘use it or lose it,’” James said in Rush News.

The study is a follow up on previous papers from the Rush group showing that social activity is related to less cognitive decline—even mild cognitive impairment. Being Social–Like Dining Out, Traveling, or Playing Bingo, May Delay Dementia by 5 Years

Read More........→September 16, 2025