Araw-araw na pakikisalamuha, pinapabuti cognitive functions ng senior adult

Sa isang pag-aaral na nilathala sa PLOS ONE, kinakitaan ang mga senior adults na edad 70-90 ng mas mahusay na cognitive performance pagkatapos ng kaaya-ayang pakikisalamuha.

Ayon sa lead researcher na si Ruixue Zhaoyang ng Center for Healthy Aging sa Penn State, ang pag-aaral ay nagpapakita ng benepisyo ang pakikisalamuha. Dagdag pa nya, agaran ang magandang epektong ito na umaabot hanggang ilang araw.

Sa pagsasaliksik nila, kinuha nila ang datos ng 312 senior adults sa loob ng 16 na araw sa pamamagitan ng smartphones. Ang mga senior adults ay hiningan ng report tungkol sa kanila pakikisalamuha ng limang beses kada araw. Bingyan din ang mga lumahok ng pagsusulit na sinusukat ang kanilang processing speed at atensyon, spatial working memory, at intra-item feature memory binding.

Nakita sa resulta na maganda ang cognitive performance ng mga kalahok na seniors na may madalas na pakikisalamuha sa kapamilya o kaibigan na kasama sa bahay o komunidad. Sinasabi rin sa research na ito ang halaga ng araw-araw o madalas na kaaya-ayang pakikisalamuha para maibsan ang panganib ng cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, at mga sakit na kahalintulad sa dementia.

PHOTO: 志涛 张, CC BY-SA 4.0

Daily social interactions related to daily performance on mobile cognitive tests among older adultsThe lack of social contact or good social relationships has been linked with cognitive decline and higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. One important but unexamined question is how daily social interactions relate to older adults’ cognitive function in daily life. The present study examined how changes in daily social interactions related to fluctuations in older adults’ performance on mobile cognitive tests from day to day. Using an ecological momentary assessments approach, 312 older adults (aged 70 to 90 years) completed surveys on social interactions and mobile cognitive tests five times a day for 16 consecutive days using smartphones. Multilevel modeling was used for analyses. Results demonstrated that having more daily social interactions, especially more pleasant social interactions, related to better cognitive performance the same day and over the subsequent two days. Cognitive performance, however, did not predict subsequent changes in social interactions across days. At the between-person level, older adults who had more (vs. less) frequent interactions with close partners on average, especially with their friends, had better cognitive performance. Finally, the average levels of social interactions also moderated the within-person associations between daily social interactions and the same-day cognitive performance. In sum, results from this study highlight the importance of having pleasant social interactions and frequent interactions with friends for older adults’ cognitive function in daily life, and have important implications for future behavioral interventions targeting certain features of daily social interactions to reduce risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.