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To maintain a positive and optimistic attitude and show an extroverted and cheerful image in interpersonal relationships is the ideal state of many people. Our advice to people who are a little unhappy or have minor ailments and disasters is usually to go for a walk and meet different people. Is it really so useful to be more social?

People who socialize more frequently tend to have larger brains and are less likely to develop brain lesions, according to new research. In fact, in addition to social frequency, we also have to consider the quality of social relations, what kind of mentality we hold when socializing, and so on, which will affect our physical and mental health.

Wen Jing | Wen Jing

Some excerpts from Science focus, No. 7 and No. 9, 2023

Avoiding social isolation can prevent or even reverse brain shrinkage. Recently, a study published in the academic journal Neurology shows that people with high social frequency tend to have a larger brain capacity, while lower social frequency corresponds to a significant increase in the volume of white matter lesions.

In the study, 8896 volunteers were involved, all of whom were non-dementia patients over the age of 65. The researchers gave the volunteers brain MRI scans and comprehensive health checks, and asked orally how often they socialized with non-cohabitants-daily, weekly, monthly, or almost non-cohabiting.

The results showed that, on the whole, people with lower social frequency had significantly smaller brains than those with higher social frequency. The percentage of total brain volume to total intracranial volume in the lowest and highest social contact frequency groups was 67.3% and 67.8%, respectively.

The researchers linked the low social frequency to the small size of the temporal lobe, occipital lobe, cingulate gyrus, hippocampus and amygdala (these areas involve advanced cognitive processes such as perception, movement, attention and memory). In addition, depression is a major reason for the reduction of the size of these organs, with a correlation of 15% to 29% in the observed data.

The researchers also found that people with lower social frequency had significantly larger white matter lesions than those with higher social frequency. The white matter lesion volume of the person with the lowest social contact frequency was 0.30%, while the white matter lesion volume of the person with the highest social contact frequency was 0.26%.

The researchers say this is an observational study that does not determine the causal relationship between social isolation and brain shrinkage. But some studies have shown that exposing the elderly to socially active situations can stop or even reverse the decline in brain capacity and improve their thinking and memory abilities. In other words, interventions to improve social isolation may prevent or treat a range of diseases associated with brain shrinkage.

In addition, evaluating a person's social status may be a diagnostic tool for many brain atrophy-related diseases.

Good social relationships can prolong life and prevent depression, according to a landmark study published in 2010, social relationships are more likely to predict whether a person will die young than factors such as obesity and the amount of exercise. Its impact on longevity is on a par with habits such as smoking and drinking.

In addition, studies have shown that having a strong relationship leads to a better state of mind. Feeling a connection between yourself and others can reduce depressive symptoms, relieve post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and improve a person's overall mental health.

It is worth noting that a variety of social relationships can help us improve our happiness, such as having close lovers or friends and having brief interactions with people we don't know well. The ideal social life will vary from person to person, and the key to assessing your social health is whether your current social relationships meet your needs.

Negative emotions can affect physical health. Pessimistic and cynical emotions can have a long-term negative impact on human health. People who show strong cynicism are more likely to answer "yes" to the question "whether most people make friends out of interest", according to a study of more than 400 workers in British government agencies. and their telomeres are relatively short (too short telomeres affect cell division and increase the risk of some heart and lung diseases).

The researchers say that when we are pessimistic and cynical, our bodies feel stressed and our cortisol levels rise, while higher cortisol levels inhibit telomerase synthesis (telomerase inhibits telomere shortening). Over a long period of time, cumulative wear and tear on the body can lead to a variety of diseases.

Fortunately, studies have shown that many things that increase happiness can raise telomerase levels. Therefore, for the sake of our health and longevity, we need to strive for something that makes us feel happy from the bottom of our heart and build a stable relationship with people who can make us happy.

References:

Association Between Frequency of Social Contact and Brain Atrophy in Community-Dwelling Older People Without Dementia | Neurology

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